January 8, 2019

January 8, 2019

Special Note from Carol:
Help The Book Report Network Expand

Happy New Year!

I want to share some news with you. We have some very big expansion plans that we would like to execute in 2019. We have three goals:

1. Rebuild our websites with new content and functionality
2. Produce and air a weekly podcast with author interviews, book recommendations and more
3. Do more live events

We already have picked out a top-notch design firm and podcast producer, and are ready to get started. But we need your help.

For the past two decades, all of our expansions have been self-funded. We've been happy to provide free content to our readers. Our plan is to continue doing so, but we need your support. This is the first time we are turning to our very supportive reader community for help to expand.

How can you help? We have launched a GoFundMe campaign and are asking for donations. In our very early steps with this campaign over the past few weeks --- reaching out to a small number of authors, agents, publishers and other industry friends --- we already are headed in the right direction.

I am happy to share that, as of today, the campaign is more than 25% funded!

Any level of donation that you would be comfortable with is sincerely appreciated. Sharing this campaign with others is another way that you can help; GoFundMe makes that easy to do. You can read more about our plans and donate here. If you would rather donate via check, our address is:

The Book Report, Inc.
850 Seventh Avenue - Suite 901
New York, NY 10019

Thank you for your consideration and your donation.

Carol Fitzgerald (Carol@bookreporter.com)

In this newsletter, you will find books releasing the weeks of January 7th and January 14th 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 Sounding Off on Audio contest for January. This month's prizes are the audio versions of Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen's AN ANONYMOUS GIRL, read by Barrie Kreinik and Julia Whelan, and Alex Michaelides' THE SILENT PATIENT, read by Jack Hawkins and Louise Brealey. Submit your comments about the audiobooks you've listened to by Friday, February 1st at noon ET, and you'll be in the running to win both these audio titles.

Also, we've updated our Books on Screen feature for this month. January's roundup includes the feature films A Dog's Way Home, Ashes in the Snow and The Upside; the season four finale of Starz's "Outlander," along with the series premieres of "The Passage" on FOX, "A Discovery of Witches" on Sundance Now and "Tidying Up with Marie Kondo" on Netflix; and the DVD releases of The Hate U Give, The Girl in the Spider's Web, Eating Animals and The Wife.

Finally, we are spotlighting THE LIGHT OVER LONDON, which is now in stores. In her latest novel, Julia Kelly transports readers to World War II London through forgotten antique treasures, remembered triumphs and fierce family ties.

For those of you who are doing online shopping, if you use the store links below, Bookreporter.com gets a small affiliate fee on your purchases. We would appreciate your considering this!

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indiebound

Now Available: THE LIGHT OVER LONDON by Julia Kelly

Reminiscent of Martha Hall Kelly's LILAC GIRLS and Kristin Hannah's THE NIGHTINGALE, this sweeping, entrancing story is a must-read for fans of remarkable women rising to challenges they never could have predicted.

It’s always been easier for Cara Hargraves to bury herself in the past than confront the present, which is why working with a gruff but brilliant antiques dealer is perfect. While clearing out an estate, she pries open an old tin that holds the relics of a lost relationship: among the treasures, a World War II-era diary and a photograph of a young woman in uniform. Eager to find the author of the hauntingly beautiful, unfinished diary, Cara digs into this soldier’s life, but soon realizes she may not have been ready for the stark reality of wartime London she finds within the pages.

Julia Kelly transports us to World War II London in this heartbreakingly beautiful novel through forgotten antique treasures, remembered triumphs and fierce family ties.

Click here to read more about the book.

This Week's Bonus News:
January's Sounding Off on Audio Contest

Tell us about the audiobooks you’ve finished listening to with your comments and a rating of 1 to 5 stars for both the performance and the content. During the contest period from January 2nd to February 1st at noon ET, two lucky readers each will be randomly chosen to win the audio versions of Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen's AN ANONYMOUS GIRL, read by Barrie Kreinik and Julia Whelan, and Alex Michaelides' THE SILENT PATIENT, read by Jack Hawkins and Louise Brealey.

To make sure other readers will be able to find the audiobook, please include the full title and correct author names (your entry must include these to be eligible to win). For complete rules and guidelines, click here.

- To see reader comments from previous contest periods, click here.

Click here to enter the contest.

On Sale the Week of January 7th in Hardcover

January 8th

AN ANONYMOUS GIRL by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen (Psychological Thriller)
When Jessica Farris signs up for a psychology study conducted by the mysterious Dr. Shields, she thinks all she’ll have to do is answer a few questions, collect her money and leave. But as the questions grow more and more intense and invasive, and the sessions become outings where Jess is told what to wear and how to act, she begins to feel as though Dr. Shields may know what she’s thinking…and what she’s hiding. As Jess’ paranoia grows, it becomes clear that she can no longer trust what in her life is real, and what is one of Dr. Shields’ manipulative experiments. Caught in a web of deceit and jealousy, Jess quickly learns that some obsessions can be deadly.
St. Martin's Press | 9781250133731

THE BURGLAR by Thomas Perry (Thriller)
Elle Stowell is a young woman with an unconventional profession: burglary. But Elle is no petty thief --- with just the right combination of smarts, looks and skills, she can easily stroll through ritzy Bel Air neighborhoods and pick out the perfect home for plucking the most valuable items. But after stumbling upon a grisly triple homicide while stealing from the home of a wealthy art dealer, Elle discovers that she is no longer the only one sneaking around. Somebody is searching for her. As Elle realizes that her knowledge of the high-profile murder has made her a target, she races to solve the case before becoming the next casualty.
Mysterious Press | 9780802129000

THE COMING STORM by Mark Alpert (Post-Apocalyptic Technothriller/Adventure)
New York City, 2023: Rising seas and superstorms have ravaged the land. Food and electricity are scarce. A dangerous Washington regime has terrorized the city, forcing the most vulnerable and defenseless people into the flood-ravaged neighborhoods. The new laws are enforced by an army of genetically enhanced soldiers, designed to be the fiercest and cruelest of killers. Genetic scientist Dr. Jenna Khan knows too much about how these super-soldiers were engineered: by altering the DNA sequence in ways that could change the fabric of humanity. Escaping arrest and on the run, Jenna joins forces with a genetically enhanced soldier gone rogue and a Brooklyn gang kingpin to resist the government’s plan to manipulate the DNA of all Americans.
St. Martin's Press | 9781250065421

DAUGHTER OF WAR: A Pike Logan Thriller by Brad Taylor (Thriller/Adventure)
Hot on the trail of a North Korean looking to sell sensitive US intelligence to the Syrian regime, Pike Logan and the Taskforce stumble upon something much graver: the sale of a lethal substance called Red Mercury. Unbeknownst to the Taskforce, the Syrians plan to use the weapon of mass destruction against American and Kurdish forces, and blame the attack on terrorists, causing western nations to reassess their participation in the murky cauldron of the Syrian civil war. Meanwhile, North Korea has its own devastating agenda: a double-cross that will dwarf the attack in Syria even as it lays the blame on the Syrian government. As the Taskforce begins to unravel the plot, a young refugee unwittingly holds the key to the conspiracy.
Dutton | 9781101984840

THE FIRST CONSPIRACY: The Secret Plot to Kill George Washington by Brad Meltzer and Josh Mensch (History)
In 1776, an elite group of soldiers were handpicked to serve as George Washington’s bodyguards. Washington trusted them. But unbeknownst to him, some of them were part of a treasonous plan. In the months leading up to the Revolutionary War, these traitorous soldiers, along with the Governor of New York, William Tryon, and Mayor David Mathews, launched a deadly plot against the most important member of the military: George Washington himself. This is the story of the secret plot and how it was revealed. It is a story of leaders, liars, counterfeiters and jailhouse confessors. It also shows just how hard the battle was for Washington and how close America was to losing the Revolutionary War.
Flatiron Books | 9781250130334

FREEFALL by Jessica Barry (Mystery/Thriller)
When her fiancé’s private plane crashes in the Colorado Rockies, Allison Carpenter miraculously survives. But the fight for her life is just beginning. Allison has been living with a terrible secret, a shocking truth that powerful men will kill to keep buried. In the small community of Owl Creek, Maine, Maggie Carpenter learns that her only child is presumed dead. She, too, harbors a shameful secret: she hasn’t communicated with her daughter in two years, since a family tragedy drove Allison away. Maggie doesn’t know anything about her daughter’s life now --- not even that she was engaged to wealthy pharmaceutical CEO Ben Gardner. As Allison struggles across the treacherous mountain wilderness, Maggie embarks on a desperate search for answers.
Harper | 9780062874832

GHOST WALL by Sarah Moss (Fiction)
In the north of England, far from the intrusions of cities but not far from civilization, Silvie and her family are living as if they are ancient Britons, surviving by the tools and knowledge of the Iron Age. For two weeks, the length of her father’s vacation, they join an anthropology course set to reenact life in simpler times. Mixing with the students, Silvie begins to see, hear and imagine another kind of life, one that might include going to university, traveling beyond England, choosing her own clothes and food, and speaking her mind. The ancient Britons built ghost walls to ward off enemy invaders. When the group builds one of their own, they find a spiritual connection to the past. What comes next but human sacrifice?
Farrar, Straus and Giroux | 9780374161927

HENRY VIII: And the Men Who Made Him by Tracy Borman (Biography)
Henry VIII is best known in history for his tempestuous marriages and the fates of his six wives. However, as acclaimed historian Tracy Borman makes clear in her illuminating new chronicle of Henry’s life, his reign and reputation were hugely influenced by the men who surrounded and interacted with him as companions and confidants, servants and ministers, and occasionally as rivals --- many of whom have been underplayed in previous biographies.
Atlantic Monthly Press | 9780802128430

HER ONE MISTAKE by Heidi Perks (Psychological Thriller)
Charlotte was supposed to be looking after the children, and she swears she was. But when her three kids are all safe and sound at the school fair, and Alice, her best friend Harriet’s daughter, is nowhere to be found, Charlotte panics. Harriet, devastated by this unthinkable, unbearable loss, can no longer bring herself to speak to Charlotte again, much less trust her. Now more isolated than ever and struggling to keep her marriage afloat, Harriet believes nothing and no one. But as the police bear down on both women trying to piece together the puzzle of what happened to this little girl, dark secrets begin to surface --- and Harriet discovers that confiding in Charlotte again may be the only thing that will reunite her with her daughter.
Gallery Books | 9781501194221

IN AN ABSENT DREAM by Seanan McGuire (Fantasy)
This fourth entry in the Wayward Children series is a prequel that tells the story of Lundy, a very serious young girl who would rather study and dream than become a respectable housewife and live up to the expectations of the world around her. As well she should. When she finds a doorway to a world founded on logic and reason, riddles and lies, she thinks she's found her paradise. Alas, everything costs at the goblin market, and when her time there is drawing to a close, she makes the kind of bargain that never plays out well.
Tor.com | 9780765399298

INVISIBLE by Andrew Grant (Mystery/Thriller)
As a young man, Paul McGrath rebelled against his pacifist father by becoming a standout Army recruit and the star of his military intelligence unit. But lingering regrets about their relationship make him return home, only to find his father dead, seemingly murdered. When the case ends in a mistrial, something doesn’t smell right to McGrath. So he puts his arsenal of skills to work to find out just how corrupt the legal system is. And to keep digging, he gets a job at the courthouse as a janitor. While McGrath knows that nothing he discovers can undo his past wrongs or save his father, he finds his new calling brings him something else: the chance to right current wrongs and save others --- that is, if the powerful and corrupt don’t kill him first.
Ballantine Books | 9780525619598

THE LIGHT OVER LONDON by Julia Kelly (Historical Fiction)
It’s always been easier for Cara Hargraves to bury herself in the past than confront the present, which is why working with a gruff but brilliant antiques dealer is perfect. While clearing out an estate, she pries open an old tin that holds the relics of a lost relationship: among the treasures, a World War II-era diary and a photograph of a young woman in uniform. Eager to find the author of the hauntingly beautiful, unfinished diary, Cara digs into this soldier’s life, but soon realizes she may not have been ready for the stark reality of wartime London she finds within the pages.
Gallery Books | 9781501196416

LIVES LAID AWAY by Stephen Mack Jones (Mystery/Thriller)
When the body of an unidentified young Hispanic woman dressed as Queen Marie Antoinette is dredged from the Detroit River, the Detroit Police Department wants the case closed fast. Wayne County Coroner Bobby Falconi gives the woman’s photo to his old pal, ex-police detective August Snow, insisting August show it around his native Mexicantown to see if anyone recognizes her. August’s good friend Elena, a prominent advocate for undocumented immigrants, recognizes the woman immediately as a local teenager, Isadora del Torres. Izzy’s story is one the authorities don’t want getting around --- and she’s not the only young woman to have disappeared during an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raid, only to turn up dead a few weeks later.
Soho Crime | 9781616959593

LOOKER by Laura Sims (Psychological Thriller)
An unraveling woman, unhappily childless and recently separated, becomes fixated on her neighbor --- the actress. The unnamed narrator can’t help noticing with wry irony that, though she and the actress live just a few doors apart, a chasm of professional success and personal fulfillment lies between them. The actress shares a gleaming brownstone with her husband and their three children, while the narrator, working in a dead-end job, lives in a run-down, three-story walk-up with her ex-husband’s cat. When an interaction with the actress at the annual block party takes a disastrous turn, what began as an innocent preoccupation spirals quickly, and lethally, into a frightening and irretrievable madness.
Scribner | 9781501199110

THE MARTIN CHRONICLES by John Fried (Fiction)
Martin Kelso's comfortable world starts to change at the age of 11. Girls get under his skin in ways he never noticed before. His cousin Evie, who used to be Marty's closest confidante, has grown up into a stranger, mysterious and unpredictable. Marty and his best friends once inhabited fantasy worlds of their own making, where the heroes always won the day. But now, as neighborhood kids are attacked on their walk to school, they find themselves wanting to play a new game that better prepares them for real life. As life changes quickly and Marty feels less secure with himself, the difference between games and reality, friend and foe, and right from wrong becomes much more difficult to distinguish.
Grand Central Publishing | 9781538729830

MOUTHFUL OF BIRDS: Stories written by Samanta Schweblin, translated by Megan McDowell (Fiction/Short Stories)
Samanta Schweblin haunts and mesmerizes in this extraordinary collection featuring women on the edge, men turned upside down, the natural world at odds with reality. We think life is one way, but often it’s not --- our expectations for how people act, love and fear can all be upended. Each character in MOUTHFUL OF BIRDS must contend with the unexpected, whether a family coming apart at the seams or a child transforming or a ghostly hellscape or a murder. Schweblin’s stories have the feel of a sleepless night, where every shadow and bump in the dark take on huge implications, leaving your pulse racing, and the line between the real and the strange blurs.
Riverhead Books | 9780399184628

THE NEW IBERIA BLUES: A Dave Robicheaux Novel by James Lee Burke (Thriller)
Detective Dave Robicheaux has discovered the body of a young woman who’s been crucified, wearing only a small chain on her ankle. She disappeared near director Desmond Cormier’s Cyrpemort Point estate, and Robicheaux is looking for answers. Neither Cormier nor his enigmatic actor friend Antoine Butterworth is saying much, but Robicheaux knows better. As always, Clete Purcel and Davie’s daughter, Alafair, have Robicheaux’s back. Clete witnesses the escape of Texas inmate Hugo Tillinger, who may hold the key to Robicheaux’s case. As they wade further into the investigation, they end up in the crosshairs of the mob, the deranged Chester Wimple, and the dark ghosts Robicheaux has been running from for years.
Simon & Schuster | 9781501176876

THE ONLY WOMAN IN THE ROOM by Marie Benedict (Historical Fiction)
Hedy Kiesler is lucky. Her beauty leads to a starring role in a controversial film and marriage to a powerful Austrian arms dealer, allowing her to evade Nazi persecution despite her Jewish heritage. But Hedy is also intelligent. At lavish Vienna dinner parties, she overhears the Third Reich's plans. One night in 1937, desperate to escape her controlling husband and the rise of the Nazis, she disguises herself and flees her husband's castle. She lands in Hollywood, where she becomes Hedy Lamarr, screen star. But Hedy is keeping a secret even more shocking than her Jewish heritage: she is a scientist. She has an idea that might help the country and that might ease her guilt for escaping alone --- if anyone will listen to her.
Sourcebooks Landmark | 9781492666868

AN ORCHESTRA OF MINORITIES by Chigozie Obioma (Fiction)
Set on the outskirts of Umuahia, Nigeria, and narrated by a chi, or guardian spirit, AN ORCHESTRA OF MINORITIES tells the story of Chinonso, a young poultry farmer who falls in love with a woman named Ndali after saving her life. But when Ndali’s wealthy family objects to the union because he is uneducated, Chinonso sells most of his possessions to attend a college in Cyprus. Upon his arrival, he discovers that he has been utterly duped by the young Nigerian who has made the arrangements. Penniless, homeless and furious at a world that continues to relegate him to the sidelines, Chinonso gets further away from his dream, from Ndali and the farm he called home.
Little, Brown and Company | 9780316412391

THE PARAGON HOTEL by Lyndsay Faye (Historical Thriller)
The year is 1921, and "Nobody" Alice James is on a cross-country train, carrying a bullet wound and fleeing for her life following an illicit drug and liquor deal gone horribly wrong. Desperate to get as far away as possible from New York City and those who want her dead, she has her sights set on Oregon. She befriends Max, a black Pullman porter who leads her to the Paragon Hotel upon arrival in Portland, the only all-black hotel in the city. The Ku Klux Klan has arrived in fearful numbers --- burning crosses, inciting violence, electing officials and brutalizing blacks. And only Alice, along with her new "family" of Paragon residents, are willing to search for a missing mulatto child who has mysteriously vanished into the Oregon woods.
G.P. Putnam's Sons | 9780735210752

THE PERILOUS ADVENTURES OF THE COWBOY KING: A Novel of Teddy Roosevelt and His Times by Jerome Charyn (Historical Fiction)
Jerome Charyn recreates the voice of Theodore Roosevelt --- the New York City police commissioner, Rough Rider and soon-to-be 26th president --- through his derring-do adventures, combining superhero dialogue with haunting pathos. Beginning with his sickly childhood and concluding with McKinley’s assassination, the novel positions Roosevelt as a “perfect bull in a china shop,” a fearless crime fighter and pioneering environmentalist who would grow up to be our greatest peacetime president.
Liveright | 9781631493874

THE RED ADDRESS BOOK by Sofia Lundberg (Fiction)
Meet Doris, a 96-year-old woman living alone in her Stockholm apartment. She has few visitors, but her weekly Skype calls with Jenny --- her American grandniece, and her only relative --- give her great joy. When Doris was a girl, she was given an address book by her father, and ever since she has carefully documented everyone she met and loved throughout the years. Looking through the little book now, Doris sees the many crossed-out names of people long gone and is struck by the urge to put pen to paper. In writing down the stories of her colorful past, can she help Jenny unlock the secrets of their family and finally look to the future? And whatever became of Allan, the love of Doris’ life?
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt | 9781328473011

SCRUBLANDS by Chris Hammer (Mystery/Thriller)
In Riversend, an isolated rural community afflicted by an endless drought, a young priest kills five parishioners before being taken down himself. A year later, journalist Martin Scarsden arrives in Riversend. His assignment is simple: describe how the townspeople are coping as the anniversary of their tragedy approaches. But as Martin meets the locals and hears their version of events, he begins to realize that the accepted wisdom --- that the priest was a pedophile whose imminent exposure was the catalyst for the shooting --- may be wrong. Then the bodies of two German backpackers --- missing since the time of the church shootings --- are discovered. As the media flocks to the scene, Martin finds himself thrown into a whole new mystery.
Touchstone | 9781501196744

SHE LIES IN WAIT by Gytha Lodge (Mystery/Thriller)
On a scorching July night in 1983, a group of teenagers goes camping in the forest. Bright and brilliant, they are destined for great things, and the youngest of the group --- Aurora Jackson --- is delighted to be allowed to tag along. But by morning, Aurora has disappeared. Her friends claim that she was safe the last time they saw her, right before she went to sleep. An exhaustive investigation is launched, but no trace of the teenager is ever found. Thirty years later, Aurora’s body is unearthed in a hideaway that only the six friends knew about, and Jonah Sheens is put in charge of solving the long-cold case. Sheens’ investigation brings the members of the camping party back to the forest, where they will be confronted once again with the events that left one of them dead.
Random House | 9781984817358

SUGAR RUN by Mesha Maren (Fiction)
In 1989, Jodi McCarty is 17 years old when she’s sentenced to life in prison. When she’s released 18 years later, she finds herself at a Greyhound bus stop, reeling from the shock of unexpected freedom but determined to chart a better course for herself. Not yet able to return to her lost home in the Appalachian Mountains, she heads south in search of someone she left behind, as a way of finally making amends. There, she meets and falls in love with Miranda, a troubled young mother living in a motel room with her children. Together they head toward what they hope will be a fresh start. But what do you do with your past --- and with a town and a family that refuses to forget, or to change?
Algonquin Books | 9781616206215

TURNING POINT by Danielle Steel (Fiction)
Four exceptional doctors are chosen for an honor and a unique project: to work with their counterparts in Paris in a mass-casualty training program. As professionals, they will gain invaluable knowledge from the program. As ordinary men and women, they will find that the City of Light opens up incredible new possibilities, exhilarating, enticing and frightening. When an unspeakable act of mass violence galvanizes them into action, their temporary life in Paris becomes a stark turning point: a time to face harder choices than they have ever made before --- with consequences that will last a lifetime.
Delacorte Press | 9780399179358

UNTOUCHABLE by Jayne Ann Krentz (Romantic Suspense)
Jack Lancaster, consultant to the FBI, has always been drawn to the coldest of cold cases. As a survivor of a fire, he finds himself uniquely compelled by arson cases. His almost preternatural ability to get inside the killer's head has garnered him a reputation in some circles --- and complicated his personal life. The more cases Jack solves, the closer he slips into the darkness. His only solace is Winter Meadows, a meditation therapist. After particularly grisly cases, Winter can lead Jack back to peace. But as long as Quinton Zane is alive, Jack will not be at peace for long. Having solidified his position as the power behind the throne of his biological family's hedge fund, Zane sets out to get rid of Anson Salinas' foster sons, starting with Jack.
Berkley | 9780399585296

THE UNWINDING OF THE MIRACLE: A Memoir of Life, Death, and Everything That Comes After by Julie Yip-Williams (Memoir)
Born blind in Vietnam, Julie Yip-Williams narrowly escaped euthanasia at the hands of her grandmother, only to flee with her family the political upheaval of her country in the late 1970s. Loaded into a rickety boat with 300 other refugees, Julie made it to Hong Kong and, ultimately, America, where a surgeon at UCLA gave her partial sight. She would go on to become a Harvard-educated lawyer, with a husband, a family and a life she had once assumed would be impossible. Then, at age 37, with two little girls at home, Julie was diagnosed with terminal metastatic colon cancer, and a different journey began. THE UNWINDING OF THE MIRACLE is the story of a vigorous life refracted through the prism of imminent death.
Random House | 9780525511359

THE WATER CURE by Sophie Mackintosh (Dystopian Fantasy)
King has tenderly staked out a territory for his wife and three daughters. He has lain the barbed wire, anchored the buoys in the water, and marked out a clear message: Do not enter. Or viewed from another angle: Not safe to leave. Here women are protected from the chaos and violence of men on the mainland. The cult-like rituals and therapies they endure fortify them from the spreading toxicity of a degrading world. But when their father disappears, they retreat further inward until the day two men and a boy wash ashore. Over the span of one blistering hot week, a psychological cat-and-mouse game plays out. Sexual tensions and sibling rivalries flare as the sisters confront the amorphous threat the strangers represent. Can they survive the men?
Doubleday | 9780385543873

THE WIDOWS by Jess Montgomery (Historical Mystery)
Kinship, Ohio, 1924: When Lily Ross learns that her husband, Daniel Ross, the town’s widely respected sheriff, is killed while transporting a prisoner, she is devastated and vows to avenge his death. Hours after his funeral, a stranger appears at her door. Marvena Whitcomb, a coal miner’s widow, is unaware that Daniel has died, and begs to speak with him about her missing daughter. From miles away but worlds apart, Lily and Marvena’s lives collide as they realize that Daniel was not the man that either of them believed him to be --- and that his murder is far more complex than either of them could have imagined.
Minotaur Books | 9781250184528

THE WINTER OF THE WITCH by Katherine Arden (Historical Fantasy)
Moscow has been struck by disaster. Its people are searching for answers --- and for someone to blame. Vasilisa Petrovna finds herself alone, beset on all sides. The Grand Prince is in a rage, choosing allies that will lead him on a path to war and ruin. A wicked demon returns, stronger than ever and determined to spread chaos. Caught at the center of the conflict is Vasya, who finds the fate of two worlds resting on her shoulders. Her destiny uncertain, Vasya will uncover surprising truths about herself and her history as she desperately tries to save Russia, the winter-king Morozko and the magical world she treasures. But she may not be able to save them all.
Del Rey | 9781101885994

On Sale the Week of January 7th in Paperback

January 8th

THE AFTERLIVES by Thomas Pierce (Fiction)
Jim Byrd died. Technically. For a few minutes. The diagnosis: heart attack at age 30. Revived with no memory of any tunnels, lights or angels, Jim wonders what, if anything, awaits us on the other side. Then a ghost shows up. Maybe. Jim and his new wife, Annie, find themselves tangling with holograms, psychics, messages from the beyond, and a machine that connects the living and the dead. As Jim and Annie journey through history and fumble through faith, they confront the specter of loss that looms for anyone who dares to fall in love.
Riverhead Books | 9780399573002
 
ANATOMY OF A MIRACLE by Jonathan Miles (Fiction)
Rendered paraplegic after a traumatic event four years ago, Cameron Harris has been living his new existence alongside his sister, Tanya, in a neighborhood where only half the houses made it through Katrina. One hot afternoon, as Cameron sits waiting for Tanya during their daily run to a convenience store, he suddenly and inexplicably rises up and out of his wheelchair. In the aftermath of this “miracle,” Cameron finds himself a celebrity at the center of a contentious debate about what’s taken place. And when scientists, journalists and a Vatican investigator start digging, Cameron’s deepest secrets become increasingly endangered. Was Cameron’s recovery a genuine miracle, or a medical breakthrough?
Hogarth | 9780553447606
 
THE AU PAIR by Emma Rous (Mystery)
Paperback Original
Seraphine Mayes and her twin brother, Danny, were born in the middle of summer at their family's estate on the Norfolk coast. Within hours of their birth, their mother threw herself from the cliffs, the au pair fled, and the village thrilled with whispers of dark cloaks, changelings, and the aloof couple who drew a young nanny into their inner circle. Now an adult, Seraphine mourns the recent death of her father. While going through his belongings, she uncovers a family photograph that raises dangerous questions. It was taken on the day the twins were born --- and in the photo, their mother, surrounded by her husband and her young son, is smiling serenely and holding just one baby. Who is the child, and what really happened that day?
Berkley | 9780440000457
 
THE BLACK PAINTING by Neil Olson (Fiction)
When Teresa’s grandfather summons her and her three cousins to his mansion at Owl’s Point, the invitation comes as a surprise. None of them have seen the old man since they were children, when a priceless Goya painting was stolen from the estate, a theft that split the family apart in a cloud of accusations and suspicion. But when Teresa arrives, she finds the old man dead, his gaze fixed on the wall where the painting once hung. As her family gathers to mourn, Teresa seeks an explanation for her grandfather’s death and the painting’s disappearance. But to do so, she must uncover her family’s secrets and face those who would keep them hidden.
Hanover Square Press | 9781335141163
 
THE BOMB MAKER by Thomas Perry (Thriller)
A threat is called into the LAPD Bomb Squad, and when tragedy ensues, the fragmented unit turns to Dick Stahl, a former Bomb Squad commander who now operates his own private security company. Just returned from a tough job in Mexico, Stahl is at first reluctant to accept the offer, but his sense of duty to the technicians he trained is too strong to turn it down. On his first day back at the head of the squad, Stahl’s three-person team is dispatched to a suspected car bomb. And it quickly becomes clear to him that they are dealing with an unusual mastermind --- one whose intended target seems to be the Bomb Squad itself.
Mysterious Press | 9780802129239
 
CRIME SONG by David Swinson (Mystery)
Frank Marr’s home is burglarized, leaving a body on the kitchen floor: his cousin Jeffrey, who had been involved with a small-time drug operation. Frank’s .38 revolver --- the murder weapon --- is stolen, along with his cherished music collection, his only possessions of sentimental value. Clearly, Jeffrey was deeper in the underworld than anyone realized. With the weight of his family, his reputation and his own life on the line, Frank will have to find the culprit by following the stolen goods through a tangled network of petty thieves, desperate addicts, deceiving fences, good cops, bad cops, and one morally compromised taxi driver.
Mulholland Books | 9780316264228
 
DANGEROUS CROSSING by Rachel Rhys (Historical Mystery)
In 1939, Europe is on the brink of war when young Lily Shepherd boards an ocean liner in Essex, bound for Australia. She is ready to start anew, leaving behind the shadows in her past. With stops at exotic locations along the way, the voyage shows Lily places she’d only ever dreamed of and enables her to make friends with those above her social station. She even allows herself to hope that a man she couldn’t possibly have a future with outside the cocoon of the ship might return her feelings. But Lily soon realizes that she’s not the only one hiding secrets. Her newfound friends are also running away from their pasts. By the time the ship docks, two passengers are dead, war has been declared, and Lily’s life will be changed irrevocably.
Washington Square Press | 9781501162732
 
THE DAYS WHEN BIRDS COME BACK by Deborah Reed (Fiction)
June is in transition, reeling from her divorce and trying to stay sober. She returns to the Oregon coast where she grew up, and must decide what to do with her late and much-loved grandparents’ charming cedar-shingled home, a place haunted by memories of her childhood. Jameson comes highly recommended to renovate the old house to sell, and from their first contact, he senses a connection with June. He too is unmoored as he struggles to redefine his marriage in the aftermath of loss. But what can the future hold as long as they are gripped so firmly by the past?
Mariner Books | 9781328505712
 
DEADLY CURE by Lawrence Goldstone (Historical Thriller)
In 1899, in Brooklyn, New York, Dr. Noah Whitestone is called urgently to his wealthy neighbor’s house to treat a five-year-old boy with a shocking set of symptoms. When the child dies suddenly later that night, Noah is accused by the boy’s regular physician --- the powerful and politically connected Dr. Arnold Frias --- of prescribing a lethal dose of laudanum. To prove his innocence, Noah must investigate the murder --- for it must be murder --- and confront the man whom he is convinced is the real killer. His investigation leads him to a reporter for a muckraking magazine and a beautiful radical editor who are convinced that a secret, experimental drug from Germany has caused the death of at least five local children, and possibly many more.
Pegasus Books | 9781643130439
 
ETERNAL LIFE by Dara Horn (Fiction)
Rachel’s current troubles --- a middle-aged son mining digital currency in her basement, a scientist granddaughter trying to peek into her genes --- are only the latest in a litany spanning dozens of countries, scores of marriages, hundreds of children, and 2,000 years, going back to Roman-occupied Jerusalem. Only one person shares her immortality: an illicit lover who pursues her through the ages. But when her children develop technologies that could change her fate, Rachel must find a way out.
W. W. Norton & Company | 9780393356564
 
FIRE AND FURY: Inside the Trump White House by Michael Wolff (Politics)
With extraordinary access to the West Wing, Michael Wolff reveals what happened behind the scenes in the first nine months of one of the most controversial presidencies. Since Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th President of the United States, the country --- and the world --- has witnessed a stormy, outrageous and absolutely mesmerizing presidential term that reflects the volatility and fierceness of the man elected Commander-in-Chief. This riveting and explosive account of Trump’s administration provides a wealth of new details about the chaos in the Oval Office.
Picador | 9781250301468
 
THE FLIGHT ATTENDANT by Chris Bohjalian (Psychological Thriller)
Cassandra Bowden, a flight attendant, is no stranger to hungover mornings. When she awakes in a Dubai hotel room, she tries to piece the previous night back together. She quietly slides out of bed and looks at the man she spent the night with. What she sees is blood, a slick, still wet pool on the crisp white sheets. Afraid to call the police, Cassie begins to lie. She lies as she joins the other flight attendants and pilots in the van. She lies on the way to Paris as she works the first class cabin. She lies to the FBI agents in New York who meet her at the gate. Soon it's too late to come clean --- or face the truth about what really happened back in Dubai. Could she have killed him? If not, who did?
Vintage | 9780525432685
 
FOOLS AND MORTALS by Bernard Cornwell (Historical Fiction)
In the heart of Elizabethan England, Richard Shakespeare dreams of a glittering career in one of the London playhouses, a world dominated by his older brother, William. But he is a penniless actor, making ends meet through a combination of a beautiful face, petty theft and a silver tongue. As William’s star rises, Richard’s onetime gratitude is souring and he is sorely tempted to abandon family loyalty. So when a priceless manuscript goes missing, suspicion falls upon Richard, forcing him onto a perilous path through a bawdy and frequently brutal London. Entangled in a high-stakes game of duplicity and betrayal, Richard has to call on all he has now learned from the brightest stages and the darkest alleyways of the city. To avoid the gallows, he must play the part of a lifetime.
Harper Paperbacks | 9780062250896
 
FOR THE WINNER: A Novel of Jason and the Argonauts by Emily Hauser (Historical Fiction)
When the king of Pagasae left his infant daughter on the slopes of a mountain to die, he believed he would never see her again. But Atalanta, against the will of the gods and the dictates of the Fates, survived --- and went on to bring to life one of the greatest legends of all of ancient Greece. Teaching herself to hunt and fight, Atalanta is determined to prove her worth to her father. Disguising herself as a man, she wins a place on the greatest voyage of that heroic age: the journey of Jason and the Argonauts to the very ends of the known world in search of the legendary Golden Fleece. But Atalanta is discovered, and abandoned in the mythical land of Colchis, where she is forced to make a choice that will determine her place in history.
Pegasus Books | 9781681778983
 
FORCE OF NATURE by Jane Harper (Mystery)
When five colleagues are forced to go on a corporate retreat in the wilderness, they reluctantly pick up their backpacks and start walking down the muddy path. But one of the women doesn’t come out of the woods. And each of her companions tells a slightly different story about what happened. Federal Police Agent Aaron Falk has a keen interest in the whereabouts of the missing hiker. In an investigation that takes him deep into isolated forest, Falk discovers secrets lurking in the mountains, and a tangled web of personal and professional friendship, suspicion and betrayal among the hikers. But did that lead to murder?
Flatiron Books | 9781250105653
 
IT DEVOURS!: A Welcome to Night Vale Novel by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor (Mystery)
Nilanjana Sikdar is an outsider to the town of Night Vale. Working for Carlos, the town’s top scientist, she relies on fact and logic as her guiding principles. But all of that is put into question when Carlos gives her a special assignment investigating a mysterious rumbling in the desert wasteland outside of town. This investigation leads her to the Joyous Congregation of the Smiling God, and to Darryl, one of its most committed members. Caught between her beliefs in the ultimate power of science and her growing attraction to Darryl, she begins to suspect the Congregation is planning a ritual that could threaten the lives of everyone in town.
Harper Perennial | 9780062476074
 
THE LARGESSE OF THE SEA MAIDEN: Stories by Denis Johnson (Fiction/Short Stories)
THE LARGESSE OF THE SEA MAIDEN is the long-awaited new story collection from Denis Johnson. Written in the luminous prose that made him one of the most beloved and important writers of his generation, this collection finds Johnson in new territory, contemplating the ghosts of the past and the elusive and unexpected ways the mysteries of the universe assert themselves. Finished shortly before Johnson’s death, this collection is the last word from a writer whose work will live on for many years to come.
Random House Trade Paperbacks | 9780812988659
 
MACBETH by Jo Nesbø (Historical Thriller)
Set in the 1970s in a run-down, rainy industrial town, Jo Nesbø's MACBETH centers on a police force struggling to shed an incessant drug problem. Duncan, chief of police, is idealistic and visionary, a dream to the townspeople but a nightmare for criminals. The drug trade is ruled by two drug lords, one of whom --- a master of manipulation named Hecate --- has connections with the highest in power, and plans to use them to get his way. Hecate’s plot hinges on steadily, insidiously manipulating Inspector Macbeth: the head of SWAT and a man already susceptible to violent and paranoid tendencies.
Hogarth | 9780553419078
 
THE MONK OF MOKHA by Dave Eggers (Biography)
Mokhtar Alkhanshali is 24 and working as a doorman when he discovers the astonishing history of coffee and Yemen’s central place in it. He leaves San Francisco and travels deep into his ancestral homeland to tour terraced farms high in the country’s rugged mountains and meet beleaguered but determined farmers. But when war engulfs the country and Saudi bombs rain down, Mokhtar has to find a way out of Yemen without sacrificing his dreams or abandoning his people.
Vintage | 9781101971444
 
THE NIGHT MARKET by Jonathan Moore (Psychological Thriller)
It’s late Thursday, and Inspector Ross Carver is at a crime scene: a dead man covered in an unknown substance that’s eating through his skin. Suddenly, six FBI agents burst in and haul Carver outside and into a disinfectant trailer, where he’s shocked unconscious. On Sunday he wakes up in his own bed, his neighbor Mia --- to whom he’s barely spoken --- by his side. He can’t remember the past three days. Mia says police officers brought him home and told her he’d been poisoned. Carver can’t disprove her, but his gut says to keep her close.
Mariner Books | 9781328507969
 
NOT THAT I COULD TELL by Jessica Strawser (Mystery)
When a group of neighborhood women gathers around a fire pit where their backyards meet one Saturday night, most of them are just ecstatic to have discovered that their baby monitors reach that far. It’s a rare kid-free night, and they’re giddy with it. They drink too much, and the conversation turns personal. By Monday morning, one of them is gone. Everyone knows something about everyone else in the quirky small Ohio town of Yellow Springs, but no one can make sense of the disappearance. As the police investigation goes from a media circus to a cold case, the neighbors are forced to reexamine what’s going on behind their own closed doors --- and to ask how well anyone really knows anyone else.
St. Martin’s Griffin | 9781250107893
 
PECULIAR GROUND by Lucy Hughes-Hallett (Historical Fiction)
It is the 17th century, and a wall is being raised around Wychwood, transforming the great house and its park into a private realm of ornamental lakes, grandiose gardens, and majestic avenues designed by Mr. Norris, a visionary landscaper. In this enclosed world everyone has something to hide after decades of civil war. Dissenters shelter in the woods, lovers rendezvous in secret enclaves, and outsiders --- migrants fleeing the plague --- find no mercy. Three centuries later, far away in Berlin, another wall is raised, while at Wychwood, an erotic entanglement over one sticky, languorous weekend in 1961 is overshadowed by news of historic change. In 1989, as the Cold War peters out, a threat from a different kind of conflict reaches Wychwood’s walls.
Harper Perennial | 9780062684202
 
THE POWER by Naomi Alderman (Dystopian/Science Fiction)
In THE POWER, the world is a recognizable place. There's a rich Nigerian boy who lounges around the family pool; a foster kid whose religious parents hide their true nature; an ambitious American politician; a tough London girl from a tricky family. But then a vital new force takes root and flourishes, causing their lives to converge with devastating effect. Teenage girls now have immense physical power --- they can cause agonizing pain and even death. And, with this small twist of nature, the world drastically resets.
Back Bay Books | 9780316547604
 
PRETEND I’M DEAD by Jen Beagin (Fiction/Humor)
Mona is almost 24, emotionally adrift and cleaning houses to get by. Handing out clean needles to drug addicts, she falls for a recipient she calls Mr. Disgusting, who proceeds to break her heart in unimaginable ways. Seeking a kind of healing, Mona decamps to Taos, New Mexico, where she finds a community of seekers and cast-offs, all of whom have one or two things to teach her --- the pajama-wearing, blissed-out New Agers, the slightly creepy client with peculiar tastes in controlled substances, the psychic who might really be psychic. But always lurking just beneath the surface are her memories of growing up in a chaotic, destructive family from which she’s trying to disentangle herself, and the larger legacy of the past she left behind.
Scribner | 9781501194429
 
RAVENSPUR: Rise of the Tudors by Conn Iggulden (Historical Fiction)
King Edward of York has been driven out of England. Queen Elizabeth and her children tremble in sanctuary at Westminster Abbey. The House of Lancaster has won the crown, but York will not go quietly. Desperate to reclaim his throne, Edward lands at Ravenspur with a half-drowned army and his brother Richard at his side. Every hand is against them, every city gate is shut, yet the brothers York go on the attack. But neither sees that their true enemy is Henry Tudor, now grown into a man. As the Red Dragon --- “the man of destiny” --- his claim to the throne leads to Bosworth Field and a battle that will bring an end to the Wars of the Roses.
Pegasus Books | 9781643130286
 
THE SANDMAN: A Joona Linna Novel by Lars Kepler (Mystery/Thriller)
An emaciated young man named Mikael is found wandering outside Stockholm. Thirteen years earlier, he and his younger sister went missing, presumed to be victims of Sweden’s most notorious serial killer, Jurek Walter, who is now serving a life sentence in a maximum-security psychiatric hospital. But Mikael tells the police that his sister is still alive and being held by someone he calls the Sandman. Detective Joona Linna sacrificed everything to capture Jurek, but he always thought that Jurek had an accomplice. Any chance of rescuing Mikael’s sister depends on getting Jurek to talk, and the only agent capable of this is Saga Bauer, who will have to go deep undercover and find a way to get to the psychopath before it’s too late.
Vintage Crime/Black Lizard | 9780525433057
 
TANGERINE by Christine Mangan (Psychological Thriller)
The last person Alice Shipley expected to see since arriving in Tangier with her new husband was Lucy Mason. After the accident at Bennington, the two friends haven’t spoken in over a year. But there Lucy was, trying to make things right. Alice has not adjusted to life in Morocco, too afraid to venture out into the bustling medinas and oppressive heat. Lucy helps Alice emerge from her flat and explore the country. But soon a familiar feeling starts to overtake Alice --- she feels controlled and stifled by Lucy at every turn. Then Alice’s husband, John, goes missing, and Alice starts to question everything around her: her relationship with her enigmatic friend, her decision to ever come to Tangier, and her very own state of mind.
Ecco | 9780062686695
 
TWO GIRLS DOWN by Louisa Luna (Thriller)
When two young sisters disappear from a strip mall parking lot, their devastated mother hires an enigmatic bounty hunter, Alice Vega, to help find the girls. Immediately shut out by a local police department already stretched thin by budget cuts and the growing OxyContin and meth epidemic, Vega enlists the help of a disgraced former cop, Max Caplan. Cap is a man trying to put the scandal of his past behind him and move on, but Vega needs his help to find the girls, and she will not be denied. With little to go on, Vega and Cap will go to extraordinary lengths to untangle a dangerous web of lies, false leads and complex relationships to find the girls before time runs out, and they are gone forever.
Anchor | 9780525433750
 
THE VANISHING SEASON by Joanna Schaffhausen (Mystery/Thriller)
Ellery Hathaway knows about serial killers, but not through her police training. She's an officer in sleepy Woodbury, MA, where a bicycle theft still makes the newspapers. No one there knows she was once victim #17 in the grisly story of serial killer Francis Michael Coben --- the only one who lived. When three people disappear from her town in three years, all around her birthday, Ellery fears someone knows her secret --- someone very dangerous. Her superiors dismiss her concerns, but Ellery knows the vanishing season is coming and anyone could be next. She contacts the one man she knows will believe her: the FBI agent who saved her from a killer all those years ago.
Minotaur Books | 9781250199553
 
WOMAN AT 1,000 DEGREES written by Hallgrímur Helgason, translated by Brian FitzGibbon (Fiction)
From her childhood in the remote islands of Iceland, where she was born the granddaughter of Iceland’s first president, to teen years spent living by her wits alone in war-torn Europe while her father fought on the side of the Nazis, to love affairs on several continents, Herra Björnsson moved Zelig-like through the major events and locales of the 20th century. She wed and lost husbands, had children, fled a war, kissed a Beatle, weathered the Icelandic financial crash, and mastered the Internet. She has experienced luck and betrayal and upheaval and pain, and --- with a bawdy, uncompromising spirit --- she has survived it all. Now, as she awaits death in a garage in Reykjavík, she shows us a woman unbowed by the forces of history.
Algonquin Books | 9781616208660

On Sale the Week of January 14th in Hardcover 

January 14th

LIAR LIAR by James Patterson and Candice Fox (Thriller)
Detective Harriet Blue is a very good cop…gone very bad. In the space of a week, she has committed theft and fraud, resisted arrest, assaulted a police officer, and is considered a dangerous fugitive from the law. It's all because of one man, Regan Banks. He viciously killed the only person in the world who matters to Harriet --- and he plans to kill her next. As she recklessly speeds toward the dark side --- and finally crosses it --- Harriet won't stop until Regan pays for the many lives he has taken.
Little, Brown and Company | 9780316418249

January 15th

ANNELIES by David R. Gillham (Historical Fiction)
The year is 1945, and Anne Frank is 16 years old. Having survived the concentration camps, but lost her mother and sister, she reunites with her father, Pim, in newly liberated Amsterdam. But it’s not as easy to fit the pieces of their life back together. Anne is adrift, haunted by the ghosts of the horrors they experienced, while Pim is fixated on returning to normalcy. Her beloved diary has been lost, and her dreams of becoming a writer seem distant and pointless now. As Anne struggles to overcome the brutality of memory and build a new life for herself, she grapples with heartbreak, grief and ultimately the freedom of forgiveness.
Viking | 9780399162589

AS LONG AS WE BOTH SHALL LIVE by JoAnn Chaney (Psychological Thriller)
Matt frantically tells park rangers that he and his wife, Marie, were hiking when she fell off a cliff into the raging river below. They start a search, but they aren’t hopeful: no one could have survived that fall. It was a tragic accident. But Matt’s first wife also died under suspicious circumstances. And when the police pull a body out of the river, they have a lot more questions for Matt. Detectives Loren and Spengler want to know if Matt is a grieving, twice-unlucky husband or a cold-blooded murderer. They dig into the couple’s lives to see what they can unearth. And they find that love’s got teeth, it’s got claws, and once it hitches you to a person, it’s tough to rip yourself free. So what happens when you’re done making it work?
Flatiron Books | 9781250076397

THE DREAMERS by Karen Thompson Walker (Fiction)
One night in an isolated college town, a first-year student stumbles into her dorm room, falls asleep --- and doesn’t wake up. Her roommate, Mei, cannot rouse her. Neither can the paramedics, nor the perplexed doctors at the hospital. When a second girl falls asleep, and then a third, Mei finds herself thrust together with an eccentric classmate as panic takes hold of the college and spreads to the town. A young couple tries to protect their newborn baby as the once-quiet streets descend into chaos. Two sisters turn to each other for comfort as their survivalist father prepares for disaster. Those affected by the illness are displaying unusual levels of brain activity, higher than has ever been recorded before. They are dreaming heightened dreams --- but of what?
Random House | 9780812994162

THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM: One Fat Man's Quest to Get Smaller in a Growing America by Tommy Tomlinson (Memoir)
When he was almost 50 years old, Tommy Tomlinson weighed 460 pounds, at risk for heart disease, diabetes and stroke. Raised in a family that loved food, he had been aware of the problem for years, seeing doctors and trying diets from the time he was a preteen. But nothing worked, and every time he tried to make a change, it didn’t go the way he planned --- in fact, he wasn’t sure that he really wanted to change. He was only one of millions of Americans struggling with weight, body image and a relationship with food that puts them at major risk. THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM is Tomlinson’s chronicle of meeting those people, taking the first steps towards health, and trying to understand how, as a nation, we got to this point.
Simon & Schuster | 9781501111617

ELSEY COME HOME by Susan Conley (Fiction)
When Elsey's husband, Lukas, hands her a brochure for a weeklong mountain retreat, she knows he is really giving her an ultimatum: Go, or we're done. Once a successful painter, Elsey set down roots in China after falling passionately for Lukas, the tall, Danish MC at a warehouse rave in downtown Beijing. Now, with two young daughters and unable to find a balance between her identities as painter, mother and, especially, wife, Elsey fills her days worrying, drinking and descending into desperate unhappiness. So, brochure in hand, she agrees to go and confront the ghosts of her past. There, she meets a group of men and women who will forever alter the way she understands herself.
Knopf | 9780525520986

THE FAR FIELD by Madhuri Vijay (Fiction)
In the wake of her mother’s death, Shalini, a privileged and restless young woman from Bangalore, sets out for a remote Himalayan village in the troubled northern region of Kashmir. Certain that the loss of her mother is somehow connected to the decade-old disappearance of Bashir Ahmed, a charming Kashmiri salesman who frequented her childhood home, she is determined to confront him. But upon her arrival, Shalini is brought face to face with Kashmir’s politics, as well as the tangled history of the local family that takes her in. And when life in the village turns volatile and old hatreds threaten to erupt into violence, Shalini finds herself forced to make a series of choices that could hold dangerous repercussions for the very people she has come to love.
Grove Press | 9780802128409

THE FIRE COURT by Andrew Taylor (Historical Thriller)
The Great Fire has ravaged London, wreaking destruction and devastation wherever its flames spread. Now, guided by the incorruptible Fire Court, the city is slowly rebuilding. James Marwood, son of a traitor, is thrust into this treacherous environment when his ailing father claims to have stumbled upon a murdered woman --- in the very place where the Fire Court sits. Then his father is run down and killed. Determined to uncover the truth, Marwood turns to the one person he can trust --- Cat Lovett, the daughter of a despised regicide. But then comes a third death…and Marwood and Cat are forced to confront a vicious and increasingly desperate killer whose actions threaten the future of the city itself.
HarperCollins | 9780008309954

THE FLIMFLAM AFFAIR: A Carpenter and Quincannon Mystery by Bill Pronzini (Historical Mystery)
Carpenter and Quincannon, Professional Detective Services is a fixture in San Francisco at the dawn of a new century. While the future is unclear, Sabina and John know one thing for certain: they will protect their clients from flimflammers, thieves and murderers, and do whatever it takes to run these dregs of society into the arms of the law. Professor A. Vargas, self-styled medium extraordinaire, and his partner Annabelle use guile and trickery to swindle bereaved men and women eager to contact the spirits of deceased loved ones. John and Sabina must not only unmask these charlatans, but also solve the riddle of an impossible murder in the midst of a séance.
Forge Books | 9780765394378

HARK by Sam Lipsyte (Fiction/Satire)
In an America convulsed by political upheaval, cultural discord, environmental collapse and spiritual confusion, many folks are searching for peace, salvation and --- perhaps most immediately --- just a little damn focus. Enter Hark Morner, an unwitting guru whose technique of “Mental Archery” --- a combination of mindfulness, mythology, fake history, yoga and, well, archery --- is set to captivate the masses and raise him to near-messiah status. It’s a role he never asked for, and one he is woefully underprepared to take on. But his inner circle of modern pilgrims have other plans, as do some suddenly powerful fringe players.
Simon & Schuster | 9781501146060

INHERITANCE: A Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity, and Love by Dani Shapiro (Memoir)
In the spring of 2016, through a genealogy website to which she had whimsically submitted her DNA for analysis, Dani Shapiro received the stunning news that her father was not her biological father. INHERITANCE is a book about secrets --- secrets within families, kept out of shame or self-protectiveness; secrets we keep from one another in the name of love. It is the story of a woman's urgent quest to unlock the story of her own identity, a story that has been scrupulously hidden from her for more than 50 years. It is a book about the extraordinary moment we live in --- a moment in which science and technology have outpaced not only medical ethics but also the capacities of the human heart to contend with the consequences of what we discover.
Knopf | 9781524732714

LAST WOMAN STANDING by Amy Gentry (Psychological Thriller)
Dana Diaz is an aspiring stand-up comedian. When she meets a tough computer programmer named Amanda Dorn, the two bond over their struggles in boys’ club professions. Dana confides that she’s recently been harassed and assaulted while in L.A., and Amanda comes up with a plan: they should go after each other’s assailants. But Dana finds that revenge, however sweet, draws her into a more complicated series of betrayals. Soon her distrust turns to paranoia, encompassing strangers, friends --- and even herself. At what cost will she get her vengeance? Who will end up getting hurt? And when it’s all over, will there be anyone left to trust?
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt | 9780544962538

LATE IN THE DAY by Tessa Hadley (Fiction)
Alexandr, Christine, Zachary and Lydia have been friends since they first met in their 20s. Thirty years later, Alex and Christine are spending a leisurely summer’s evening at home when they receive a call from a distraught Lydia: she is at the hospital. Zach is dead. In the wake of this profound loss, the three friends find themselves unmoored; all agree that Zach, with his generous, grounded spirit, was the irreplaceable one they couldn’t afford to lose. Inconsolable, Lydia moves in with Alex and Christine. But instead of loss bringing them closer, the three of them find over the following months that it warps their relationships, as old entanglements and grievances rise from the past, and love and sorrow give way to anger and bitterness.
Harper | 9780062476692

THE NIGHT AGENT by Matthew Quirk (Political Thriller)
No one was more surprised than FBI Agent Peter Sutherland when he’s tapped to work in the White House Situation Room. Staffing the night action desk, his job is monitoring an emergency line for a call that has not --- and might never --- come. Until tonight. At 1:05am the phone rings. A terrified young woman named Rose tells Peter that her aunt and uncle have just been murdered and that the killer is still in the house with her. The call thrusts Peter into the heart of a conspiracy years in the making, involving a Russian mole at the highest levels of the government. Anyone in the White House could be the traitor. Anyone could be corrupted. To save the nation, Peter must take the rules into his own hands and do the right thing, no matter the cost.
William Morrow | 9780062875464

NO EXIT by Taylor Adams (Psychological Thriller)
On her way to Utah to see her dying mother, college student Darby Thorne gets caught in a fierce blizzard in the mountains of Colorado. With the roads impassable, she’s forced to wait out the storm at a remote highway rest stop. Inside are some vending machines, a coffee maker and four complete strangers. Desperate to find a signal to call home, Darby goes back out into the storm and makes a horrifying discovery. In the back of the van parked next to her car, a little girl is locked in an animal crate. Who is the child? Why has she been taken? And how can Darby save her? There is no cell phone reception, no telephone and no way out. One of her fellow travelers is a kidnapper. But which one?
William Morrow | 9780062875655

NO MERCY by Joanna Schaffhausen (Mystery/Thriller)
Police officer Ellery Hathaway is on involuntary leave from her job because she shot a murderer in cold blood and refuses to apologize for it. Forced into group therapy for victims of violent crime, Ellery immediately finds higher priorities than "getting in touch with her feelings." For one, she suspects a fellow group member may have helped to convict the wrong man for a deadly arson incident years ago. For another, Ellery finds herself in the desperate clutches of a woman who survived a brutal rape. He is still out there, this man with the Spider-Man-like ability to climb through bedroom windows, and his victim beseeches Ellery for help in capturing her attacker.
Minotaur Books | 9781250297365

NO SUNSCREEN FOR THE DEAD by Tim Dorsey (Mystery/Humor)
Serge and Coleman are back on the road, ready to hit the next stop on their list of obscure and wacky points of interest in the Sunshine State. This time, Serge’s interest is drawn to one of the largest retirement villages in the world --- also known as the site of an infamous sex scandal between a retiree and her younger beau that rocked the community. What starts out as an innocent quest to observe elders in their natural habitats, sample the local cuisine, and scope out a condo to live out the rest of their golden years, soon becomes a Robin Hood-like crusade to recover the funds of swindled residents. But as the residents rally for Serge to seek justice on their behalves, two detectives are hot on the heels of Serge and Coleman’s murderous trail.
William Morrow | 9780062795885

THE PERFECT LIAR by Thomas Christopher Greene (Psychological Thriller/Mystery)
Susannah, a young widow and single mother, has remarried well: to Max, a charismatic artist and popular speaker whose career took her and her 15-year-old son out of New York City and to a quiet Vermont university town. One morning, though, she finds a note on her door: I KNOW WHO YOU ARE. Max dismisses the note as a prank. But days after a neighborhood couple comes to dinner, the husband mysteriously dies in a tragic accident while on a run with Max. Soon thereafter, a second note appears on their door: DID YOU GET AWAY WITH IT? Both Susannah and Max are keeping secrets from the world and from each other --- secrets that could destroy their family and everything they have built.
St. Martin's Press | 9781250128218

TEAR IT DOWN: A Peter Ash Novel by Nick Petrie (Thriller)
Iraq war veteran Peter Ash heads to Memphis to help Wanda Wyatt, a photographer and war correspondent who's been receiving peculiar threats. Upon his arrival, however, he finds that the situation has gone downhill fast --- someone has just driven a dump truck into Wanda's living room. But neither Wanda nor Peter can figure out why. At the same time, a young homeless street musician finds himself roped into a plan to rob a jewelry store. The heist doesn't go as planned, and the young man finds himself holding a sack full of Rolexes and running for his life. Peter likes the skinny kid's smarts and attitude, but he soon discovers that the desperate musician is in far worse trouble than he knows. And Wanda's troubles are only beginning.
G.P. Putnam's Sons | 9780399575662

UNQUIET by Linn Ullmann (Fiction)
He is a renowned Swedish filmmaker and has a plan for everything. She is his daughter, the youngest of nine children. Every summer, since she was a little girl, she visits him at his beloved stony house. Now that she’s grown up and he’s in his late 80s, he envisions a book about old age that they will write together. When she finally comes to the island, bringing her tape recorder with her, old age has caught up with him in ways neither could have foreseen. UNQUIET follows the narrator as she unearths these taped conversations seven years later. Swept into memory, she reimagines the story of a father, a mother and a girl --- a child who can’t wait to grow up and parents who would rather be children.
W. W. Norton & Company | 9780393609943

YOU KNOW YOU WANT THIS: "Cat Person" and Other Stories by Kristen Roupenian (Fiction/Short Stories)
Kristen Roupenian's highly anticipated debut short story collection explores the ways in which women are horrifying as much as it captures the horrors that are done to them. Among its pages are a couple who becomes obsessed with their friend hearing them have sex, then seeing them have sex…until they can’t have sex without him; a 10-year-old whose birthday party takes a sinister turn when she wishes for “something mean”; a woman who finds a book of spells half hidden at the library and summons her heart’s desire --- a nameless, naked man; and a self-proclaimed “biter” who dreams of sneaking up behind and sinking her teeth into a green-eyed, long-haired, pink-cheeked coworker.
Gallery/Scout Press | 9781982101633

On Sale the Week of January 14th in Paperback

January 15th

THE ACCIDENTAL FURTHER ADVENTURES OF THE 100-YEAR-OLD MAN by Jonas Jonasson (Fiction/Humor)
Paperback Original
It all begins with a hot air balloon trip and three bottles of champagne. Allan Karlsson and Julius are ready for some spectacular views, but they’re not expecting to land in the sea and be rescued by a North Korean ship, and they never could have imagined that the captain of the ship would be harboring a suitcase full of contraband uranium, on a nuclear weapons mission for Kim Jong-un. Yikes! Soon Allan and Julius are at the center of a complex diplomatic crisis involving world figures from the Swedish foreign minister to Angela Merkel and President Trump. Needless to say, things are about to get very, very complicated.
William Morrow Paperbacks | 9780062838551
 
ADÈLE written by Leila Slimani, translated by Sam Taylor (Fiction)
Paperback Original
Adèle appears to have the perfect life: She is a successful journalist in Paris who lives in a beautiful apartment with her surgeon husband and their young son. But underneath the surface, she is bored --- and consumed by an insatiable need for sex. Driven less by pleasure than compulsion, Adèle organizes her day around her extramarital affairs, arriving late to work and lying to her husband about where she's been, until she becomes ensnared in a trap of her own making.
Penguin Books | 9780143132189
 
THE ELIZAS by Sara Shepard (Psychological Thriller)
When Eliza Fontaine is rescued from the bottom of a hotel pool just a few weeks before her first novel is going to be published, her family assumes that it’s another failed suicide attempt. But Eliza swears she was pushed. The problem is she remembers little of that night, a result of the large quantity of alcohol she consumed and a worsening struggle with memory loss due to a brain tumor. As she searches for answers, something very peculiar begins to happen: The people closest to her start to confuse the events in her novel with those in her real life. The dividing line between fact and fiction seems to be dissolving, and even Eliza is becoming uncertain about where her protagonist’s story ends and hers begins.
Atria Books | 9781501162787
 
EVERYTHING HERE IS BEAUTIFUL by Mira T. Lee (Fiction)
Two Chinese-American sisters --- Miranda, the older, responsible one, always her younger sister’s protector; Lucia, the headstrong, unpredictable one, whose impulses are huge and, often, life-changing. When Lucia starts hearing voices, it is Miranda who must find a way to reach her sister. Lucia impetuously plows ahead, but the bitter constant is that she is, in fact, mentally ill. Lucia lives life on a grand scale, until, inevitably, she crashes to earth. Miranda leaves her own self-contained life in Switzerland to rescue her sister again --- but only Lucia can decide if she wants to be saved. The bonds of sisterly devotion stretch across oceans --- but what does it take to break them?
Penguin Books | 9780735221970

THE LEGACY by Yrsa Sigurdardottir (Mystery/Thriller)
The only person who might have the answers to a baffling murder case is the victim’s seven-year-old daughter, found hiding in the room where her mother died. And she’s not talking. Newly promoted, out of his depth, detective Huldar turns to Freyja, a psychologist, for her expertise with traumatized young people. Freyja, who distrusts the police in general and Huldar in particular, isn’t best pleased. But she’s determined to keep little Margret safe. It may prove tricky. The killer is leaving them strange clues, but can they crack the code? And if they do, will they be next?
Minotaur Books | 9781250308382
 
THE LIAR’S ROOM by Simon Lelic (Psychological Thriller/Mystery)
Paperback Original
Susanna Fenton has a secret. Fourteen years ago she left her identity behind, reinventing herself as a therapist and starting a new life. It was the only way to keep her daughter safe. But when a young man, Adam Geraghty, walks into her office, claiming he needs Susanna's help but asking unsettling questions, she begins to fear that her secret has been discovered. Who is Adam, really? What does he intend to do to Susanna? And what has he done to her daughter?
Berkley | 9780440000433
 
LOVE AND RUIN by Paula McLain (Historical Fiction)
In 1937, 28-year-old Martha Gellhorn travels alone to Madrid to report on the atrocities of the Spanish Civil War and becomes drawn to the stories of ordinary people caught in the devastating conflict. It’s the adventure she’s been looking for and her chance to prove herself a worthy journalist in a field dominated by men. But she also finds herself unexpectedly falling in love with Ernest Hemingway, a man on his way to becoming a legend. When Ernest publishes the biggest literary success of his career, FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS, they are no longer equals, and Martha must make a choice: surrender to the confining demands of being a famous man’s wife, or risk losing Ernest by forging a path as her own woman and writer.
Ballantine Books | 9781101967393
 
MADNESS IS BETTER THAN DEFEAT by Ned Beauman (Historical/Literary Thriller)
In 1938, two rival expeditions descend on an ancient temple recently discovered in the jungles of Honduras --- one intending to shoot a screwball comedy on location there, the other to disassemble the temple and ship it back to New York. A seemingly endless stalemate ensues, and 20 years later a rogue CIA agent sets out to exploit it for his own ends, unaware that the temple is a locus of conspiracies far grander than anyone could have ever guessed.
Vintage | 9780804172189
 
THE MILK LADY OF BANGALORE: An Unexpected Adventure by Shoba Narayan (Memoir)
When Shoba Narayan --- who has just returned to India with her husband and two daughters after years in the United States --- asks whether a cow she sees in her elevator might bless her apartment, it is the beginning of a beautiful friendship between our author and the cow’s owner, Sarala, who also sells fresh milk right across the street from that thoroughly modern apartment building. The two women connect over not only cows but also family, food and life. When Shoba agrees to buy Sarala a new cow, they set off looking for just the right heifer, and what was at first a simple economic transaction becomes something much deeper, though never without a hint of slapstick.
Algonquin Books | 9781616208677
 
NO TIME TO SPARE: Thinking About What Matters by Ursula K. Le Guin (Essays)
Ursula K. Le Guin took readers to imaginary worlds for decades. In the last great frontier of life, old age, she explored a new literary territory: the blog, a forum where she shined. The collected best of Ursula’s blog, NO TIME TO SPARE presents perfectly crystallized dispatches on what mattered to her late in life, her concerns with the world, and her wonder at it: “How rich we are in knowledge, and in all that lies around us yet to learn. Billionaires, all of us.”
Mariner Books | 9781328507976
 
OLIVER LOVING by Stefan Merrill Block (Fiction)
A shy boy named Oliver Loving attends his school’s annual dance, hoping for a glimpse of the object of his unrequited affections, Rebekkah Sterling. But as the music plays, a troubled young man sneaks in through the school’s back door. The dire choices this man makes that evening will tear the town of Bliss, Texas apart. Nearly 10 years later, Oliver still lies wordless and paralyzed at an assisted care facility. Orbiting the stillpoint of his hospital bed is a family transformed. And then there is Rebekkah, who left Texas long ago and still refuses to speak about her own part in that tragic night. When a new medical test promises a key to unlock Oliver’s trapped mind, the town’s unanswered questions resurface with new urgency.
Flatiron Books | 9781250122872
 
PARIS BY THE BOOK by Liam Callanan (Fiction)
When eccentric novelist Robert Eady abruptly vanishes, he leaves behind his wife, Leah, their daughters, and, hidden in an unexpected spot, plane tickets to Paris. Hoping to uncover clues --- and her husband --- Leah sets off for France with her girls. Upon their arrival, she discovers an unfinished manuscript, one Robert had been writing without her knowledge…and that he had set in Paris. The Eady women follow the path of the manuscript to a small, floundering English-language bookstore whose weary proprietor is eager to sell. But a series of startling discoveries forces Leah to consider that she may not be ready for what solving this mystery might do to her family --- and the Paris she thought she knew.
Dutton | 9781101986295
 
THE RECOVERING: Intoxication and Its Aftermath by Leslie Jamison (Memoir/Cultural Studies)
Leslie Jamison deftly excavates the stories we tell about addiction --- both her own and others' --- and examines what we want these stories to do and what happens when they fail us. All the while, she offers a fascinating look at the larger history of the recovery movement, and at the complicated bearing that race and class have on our understanding of who is criminal and who is ill. At the heart of the book is Jamison's ongoing conversation with literary and artistic geniuses whose lives and works were shaped by alcoholism and substance dependence --- including Raymond Carver, Denis Johnson and David Foster Wallace --- as well as brilliant lesser-known figures, lost to obscurity but newly illuminated here.
Back Bay Books | 9780316259583

TAKE-OUT: And Other Tales of Culinary Crime by Rob Hart (Crime Fiction/Short Stories)
Paperback Original
In TAKE-OUT, Rob Hart has collected 16 stories of culinary crime and noir that will have you savoring every deadly bite. In the title story, a gambler falls into debt with the enigmatic owner of a Chinatown gambling parlor, and must run odd --- and sometimes dangerous --- deliveries to clear his ledger. In "How to Make the Perfect New York Bagel," the owner of one of New York City's last old-school bagel shops has to defend his storefront --- in the past, from the mob, and in the present, from a bank. In "Creampuff," a bakery with the hottest pastry in town has to hire a bouncer to control the unruly line, with tragic results.
Polis Books | 9781947993426
 
THIS MESSY MAGNIFICENT LIFE: A Field Guide to Mind, Body, and Soul by Geneen Roth (Self-Help/Motivational)
With an introduction by Anne Lamott, THIS MESSY MAGNIFICENT LIFE is a personal and exhilarating read on freeing ourselves from daily anxiety, lack and discontent. It’s a deep dive into what lies behind our self-criticism, whether it is about the size of our thighs, the expression of our thoughts or the shape of our ambitions. And it’s about stopping the search to fix ourselves by realizing that on the other side of the “Me Project” is spaciousness, peace, and the capacity to reclaim one’s power and joy.
Scribner | 9781501182471

VINDICATION: A Matt Royal Mystery by H. Terrell Griffin (Mystery)
Matt Royal, the retired lawyer-turned-beach-bum, is called back into the courtroom to defend his girlfriend J.D. Duncan's Aunt Esther. A bestselling author has been murdered after a book signing, and Aunt Esther has been arrested. Matt reluctantly suits up for the courtroom, and J.D. takes a leave from the police department to go undercover. A bizarre specter from the past haunts their investigation every step of the way. As they delve further into the case, the pieces of the puzzle refuse to fall into any kind of coherent pattern. Jock Algren arrives with his special skill set to expose the real murderer and free Aunt Esther, but to no avail. Not until the case goes to trial and the evidence is revealed does the truth emerge --- and a strange kind of justice prevails.
Oceanview Publishing | 9781608093328
 
THE WOMAN IN THE WATER: A Prequel to the Charles Lenox Series by Charles Finch (Historical Mystery)
London, 1850: A young Charles Lenox struggles to make a name for himself as a detective…without a single case. But when an anonymous writer sends a letter to the paper claiming to have committed the perfect crime --- and promising to kill again --- Lenox is convinced that this is his chance to prove himself. The writer’s first victim is a young woman whose body is found in a naval trunk. With few clues to go on, Lenox endeavors to solve the crime before another innocent life is lost. When the killer’s sights are turned toward those whom Lenox holds most dear, the stakes are raised and Lenox is trapped in a desperate game of cat and mouse.
Minotaur Books | 9781250139474

Please visit the other websites in TheBookReportNetwork.com: 20SomethingReads.com, ReadingGroupGuides.com, GraphicNovelReporter.com, Teenreads.com, Kidsreads.com and AuthorsOnTheWeb.com.

And be sure to connect with us on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.