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Latest Update on Our GoFundMe Campaign
Thank you to those of you who have donated to our GoFundMe campaign. So far, with online and snail mail donations, we have raised $37,895 of our $50,000 goal.
You can read about our plans and donate here. If you would prefer donating via check, please send to:
The Book Report, Inc.
16 Mt. Bethel Road, Suite 365
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Thank you again for your consideration and your donation.
Carol Fitzgerald (Carol@bookreporter.com)
In this newsletter, you will find books releasing the weeks of December 7th and December 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 End-of-the-Year contest featuring Carol Fitzgerald’s Bookreporter.com Bets On picks from 2020. One Grand Prize winner will be awarded all 42 books, while 14 other readers will receive a selection of three of these titles. The deadline for your entries is Monday, January 4th at noon ET.
Also, we are sharing Carol's latest "Bookreporter Talks To" interview with Elizabeth Berg, whose new book, I’LL BE SEEING YOU, is a beautiful memoir about her parents in their final years. When Elizabeth's father was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, her parents had to leave their home and move into a facility that could offer them help. It was then up to Elizabeth and her siblings to care for them in ways they never could have expected. Carol talked to Elizabeth about why she decided to write a memoir and how writing it was so different from the many novels and short stories she has penned throughout her prolific career. She also explained her care in delving into the difficult topics in her family's relationships during this time, and the effect it had on her and her siblings. Click here to watch the video and here to listen to the podcast.
Finally, we are spotlighting COURTING MISFORTUNE, the first book in Regina Jennings' new historical romance series, The Joplin Chronicles, which is now available. Assigned to find the kidnapped daughter of a mob boss, Pinkerton operative Calista York is sent to a rowdy mining town in Missouri. But she faces the obstacle of missionary Matthew Cook. He is as determined to stop a local baby raffle as he is the reckless Miss York, whose bad judgment consistently seems to be putting her in harm's way.
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: COURTING MISFORTUNE
by Regina Jennings
COURTING MISFORTUNE: The Joplin Chronicles, Book 1 by Regina Jennings (Historical Romance)
Calista York needs one more successful case as a Pinkerton operative to secure her job at the agency. When she’s assigned to find the kidnapped daughter of a mob boss, she’s sent to the rowdy mining town of Joplin, Missouri. With extended family in the area, Calista must conceal her profession if she hopes to recover the missing girl.
When Matthew Cook decided to be a missionary, he never expected to be sent only a short train ride away to Joplin. While fighting against corruption of all sorts, Matthew hears of a baby raffle being held to raise funds for a children’s home. He’ll do what he can to stop it, but he also wants to stop the reckless Miss York, whose bad judgment consistently puts her in harm’s way.
Calista doesn’t need the handsome pastor and her nosy family interfering with her investigation, no matter their intentions. A girl’s life depends on her. If she doesn’t find Lila Seaton soon, the constant meddling could have dire consequences.
Click here to read more about the book.
Upcoming Virtual Book and Author Events
As so many book and author events are happening online these days, we are highlighting a number of them that you may be interested in attending. Click on the links below for more info and to register.
Wednesday, December 9th at 7pm ET: "Friends and Fiction": The "Friends and Fiction" authors --- Mary Kay Andrews, Kristin Harmel, Kristy Woodson Harvey, Patti Callahan Henry and Mary Alice Monroe --- will talk to actress Andie MacDowell and film producer Todd Komarnicki.
Wednesday, December 9th at 9pm ET: Town Hall Seattle Virtual Event: Town Hall Seattle presents Broadway producer David Stone in conversation with writer and New York Post theater columnist Michael Riedel, who will discuss his new book, SINGULAR SENSATION: The Triumph of Broadway.
Thursday, December 10th at 8pm ET: Murder By The Book Virtual Event: Jeff Lindsay will join Murder By The Book to talk about his new thriller, FOOL ME TWICE.
Monday, December 14th at 6pm ET: The Filson Historical Society Virtual Event: Acclaimed historian H. W. Brands will discuss his latest book, THE ZEALOT AND THE EMANCIPATOR, his thrilling and page-turning account of how two American giants shaped the war for freedom.
Tuesday, December 15th at 6:30pm ET: Pages Bookshop Virtual Event: Pages Bookshop is excited to host Michigan author Lori Nelson Spielman for her latest book, THE STAR-CROSSED SISTERS OF TUSCANY. She will be in conversation with Lyssa Kay Adams, author of CRAZY STUPID BROMANCE.
Tuesday, December 15th at 8pm ET: Blue Willow Bookshop Virtual Event: Matthew McConaughey will appear in conversation with Brené Brown to discuss his new book, GREENLIGHTS.
This Week's Bonus News:
Enter to Win Our End-of-the-Year Celebration,
Featuring All 42 "Bets On" Titles from 2020
We are thrilled to announce our End-of-the-Year Contest featuring Carol Fitzgerald’s Bookreporter.com Bets On picks from 2020. One Grand Prize winner will be awarded all 42 books, while 14 other readers will receive a selection of three of these titles. To enter, please fill out this form by Monday, January 4th 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 7th in Hardcover
December 7th
THE LAST DAYS OF JOHN LENNON by James Patterson, with Casey Sherman and Dave Wedge (True Crime)
With the Beatles, John Lennon surpasses his youthful dreams, achieving a level of superstardom that defies classification. Mark David Chapman once worshipped his idols from afar but now harbors grudges against those, like Lennon, whom he feels betrayed him. He is convinced that Lennon has misled fans with his message of hope and peace --- and he is not staying away any longer. Enriched by exclusive interviews with Lennon’s friends and associates, including Paul McCartney, THE LAST DAYS OF JOHN LENNON is the thrilling true story of two men who changed history: one whose indelible songs enliven our world to this day, and the other who ended the beautiful music with five pulls of a trigger.
Little, Brown and Company | 9780316429061
December 8th
THE BOOK OF MOODS: How I Turned My Worst Emotions into My Best Life by Lauren Martin (Memoir)
Five years ago, Lauren Martin was sure something was wrong with her. She had a good job, an apartment and a boyfriend, yet every day she wrestled with feelings of inferiority, anxiety and irritability. It wasn't until a chance encounter with a charming and successful stranger --- who revealed that she also felt these things --- that Lauren set out to better understand the hold that these moods had on her and began to blog about the wisdom she uncovered. It quickly exploded into an international online community of women who felt like she did: lost, depressed, moody and desirous of change. Inspired by her audience to press even deeper, THE BOOK OF MOODS shares Lauren's journey to infuse her life with a sense of peace and stability.
Grand Central Publishing | 9781538733622
CROSSHAIRS by Catherine Hernandez (Dystopian Fiction)
Set in a terrifyingly familiar near-future, with massive floods leading to rampant homelessness and devastation, a government-sanctioned regime called The Boots seizes on the opportunity to round up communities of color, the disabled and the LGBTQ+ into labor camps. In the shadows, a new hero emerges. After he loses his livelihood as a drag queen and the love of his life, Kay joins the resistance alongside Bahadur, a transmasculine refugee, and Firuzeh, a headstrong social worker. Guiding them in the use of weapons and close-quarters combat is Beck, a rogue army officer, who helps them plan an uprising at a major televised international event.
Atria Books | 9781982146023
D (A TALE OF TWO WORLDS) by Michel Faber (Fantasy/Adventure)
It all starts on the morning the letter D disappears from language. First, it vanishes from Dhikilo’s parents’ conversation at breakfast, then from the road signs outside and from her school dinners. Soon the local dentist and the neighbor’s dalmatian are missing, and even the Donkey Derby has been called off. Though she doesn’t know why, Dhikilo is summoned to the home of her old history teacher Professor Dodderfield and his faithful Labrador, Nelly Robinson. And this is where our story begins.
Hanover Square Press | 9781335916747
HIDDEN TREASURE: A Josie Prescott Antiques Mystery by Jane K. Cleland (Mystery)
Josie Prescott, the owner of Prescott’s Antiques & Auctions, and her new husband, Ty, have finally found their dream home, a Victorian beauty known as the “Gingerbread House.” It was recently vacated by Maudie Wilson, whose concerned nieces have moved her into a nearby assisted living facility. They report that their aunt may have left behind an old trunk that she’s desperate to get back. Sure enough, Josie finds the trunk inside a hidden compartment, and within it a jewel-encrusted box holding a sculpture of a cat. But when Josie goes to return the box to Maudie, the woman has vanished. And on the floor of her empty apartment lies a corpse, a woman bludgeoned to death. Sick with worry for Maudie’s safety, Josie begins to piece together the clues to the murder.
Minotaur Books | 9781250242778
MOZART: The Reign of Love by Jan Swafford (Biography)
At the earliest ages, it was apparent that Wolfgang Mozart’s singular imagination was at work in every direction. He hated to be bored or idle, and through his life he responded to these threats with a repertoire of antidotes mental and physical. Whether in his rabidly obscene mode or not, Mozart was always hilarious. He went at every piece of his life, and perhaps most notably his social life, with tremendous gusto. His circle of friends and patrons was wide, encompassing anyone who appealed to his boundless appetites for music and all things pleasurable and fun. MOZART is the complete exhumation of a genius in his life and ours: a man who would enrich the world with his talent for centuries to come and who would immeasurably shape classical music.
Harper | 9780062433572
THE PARTICULARS OF PETER: Dance Lessons, DNA Tests, and Other Excuses to Hang Out with My Perfect Dog by Kelly Conaboy (Memoir/Humor)
Kelly Conaboy's debut is a funny exploration of the joy found in loving a dog so much it makes you feel like you're going to combust, and her potentially codependent relationship with her own sweet dog, Peter. Readers will follow Peter and his owner to Woofstock, "the largest outdoor festival for dogs in North America," and accompany them to lessons in Canine Freestyle, a sport where dogs perform a routine set to music, creating the illusion that they're dancing with their owners. From learning about Peter's DNA, to seeing if dogs can sense the presence of ghosts, THE PARTICULARS OF PETER will give readers a smart, entertaining respite from the harsh world of humans into the funny little world of dogs.
Grand Central Publishing | 9781538717868
PROUSTIAN UNCERTAINTIES: On Reading and Rereading In Search of Lost Time by Saul Friedländer (Literary Criticism)
This engaging reexamination of IN SEARCH OF LOST TIME considers how the narrator defines himself, how this compares to what we know of Marcel Proust himself, and what the significance is of these various points of commonality and divergence. We know, for example, that the author did not hide his homosexuality, but the narrator did. Why the difference? We know that the narrator tried to marginalize his part-Jewish background. Does this reflect the author’s position, and how does the narrator handle what he tries, but does not manage, to dismiss? These are major questions raised by the text and reflected in the text, to which the author’s life doesn’t give obvious answers.
Other Press | 9781590519110
RED HANDS by Christopher Golden (Supernatural Thriller)
A car plows through the crowd at a July 4th parade. The driver climbs out, sick and stumbling, reaching out…and everyone he touches drops dead within seconds. Maeve Sinclair watches in horror as people she loves begin to die, and she knows she must take action. But in the aftermath of this terror, it’s Maeve who possesses that killing touch. Fleeing into the mountains, struggling with her own grief and confusion, Maeve faces the dawning realization that she will never be able to touch another human being again. When "weird s**t expert” Ben Walker and Maeve meet at last, they will unravel a stunning legacy of death and betrayal, and a malignant secret as old as history.
St. Martin's Press | 9781250246301
SNOWDRIFT: An Embla Nyström Investigation written by Helene Tursten, translated by Marlaine Delargy (Mystery)
It’s been 14 years since Detective Inspector Embla Nyström’s best friend disappeared from a nightclub in Gothenburg. So she is stunned when she recognizes her voice on the phone before the call abruptly disconnects. Then she learns that a man has been found shot dead in one of the guest houses that he and his wife manage in rural Sweden. When Embla arrives on the scene, she receives another shock. The dead man is Milo Stavic, a well-known gang member and one of the last people seen with Lollo. The same night that Milo was shot in the guest house, his brother Luca was also killed. Why, after all these years, is someone targeting the Stavic brothers, and where is the third brother?
Soho Crime | 9781641291606
THE SYSTEM by Ryan Gattis (Legal Thriller)
On December 6, 1993, a drug dealer called Scrappy is shot and left for dead on the lawn outside her mother’s house. Augie, a heroin addict, witnesses the whole thing --- before he steals all the drugs on her person, as well as the gun that was dropped at the scene. When Augie gets busted, he names local gang members Wizard and Dreamer the shooters. But only one of them is guilty. A search of Wizard and Dreamer’s premises uncovers the gun that was used in the shooting, and a warrant goes out for their arrest. They know it’s a frame-up, but the word from the gang is to keep their mouths shut and face the charges. With these two off the streets, Dreamer’s friend Little is given one job: discover how the gun got moved, and why.
MCD | 9780374130312
TAKE IT BACK by Kia Abdullah (Legal Thriller)
Zara Kaleel, one of London's brightest legal minds, has exchanged her high-profile career for a job at a sexual assault center, helping victims who need her the most. When Jodie Wolfe, a 16-year-old girl with facial deformities, accuses four boys in her class of an unthinkable crime, the community is torn apart. After all, these four teenage defendants are from hard-working immigrant families, and they all have proven alibis. Even Jodie's best friend doesn't believe her. But Zara does, and she is determined to fight for Jodie to find the truth in the face of public outcry. And as issues of sex, race and social justice collide, the most explosive criminal trial of the year builds to a shocking conclusion.
St. Martin's Press | 9781250273017
On Sale the Week of December 7th in Paperback
December 8th
ALICE ADAMS: Portrait of a Writer by Carol Sklenicka (Biography)
One of only four winners of the O. Henry Special Award for Continuing Achievement, Alice Adams wove her life into her fiction and used her writing to understand the changing tides of the 20th century. Her work portrays vibrant characters both young and old who live on the edge of their emotions, absorbed by love affairs yet always determined to be independent and to fulfill their personal destinies. Carol Sklenicka integrates the drama of Adams’ deeply felt, elegantly fierce life with a cascade of events --- the civil rights and women’s movements, the ’60s counterculture and sexual freedom. This biography’s revealing analyses of Adams’ stories and novels, and extensive interviews with her family and friends, give us the definitive story of a writer often dubbed “America’s Colette.”
Scribner | 9781451621334
ALL THAT’S BRIGHT AND GONE by Eliza Nellums (Mystery)
There's plenty about the grownup world that six-year-old Aoife doesn't understand. Like what happened to her big brother, Theo, and why her mama is in the hospital instead of home where she belongs. Uncle Donny says she just needs to be patient, but Aoife is sure her mama won't be able to come home until Aoife learns what really happened to her brother. The trouble is no one wants to talk about Theo because he was murdered. But by whom? With her imaginary friend, Teddy, by her side and the detecting skills of her nosy next-door neighbor, Aoife sets out to uncover the truth about her family. But she will learn that some secrets can't stay hidden forever, and sometimes the pain we bury is the biggest secret of them all.
Crooked Lane Books | 9781643856476
ANYONE by Charles Soule (Science Fiction/Thriller)
Inside a barn in Ann Arbor, Michigan, a scientist searching for an Alzheimer’s cure throws a switch --- and finds herself mysteriously transported into her husband’s body. What begins as a botched experiment will change her life --- and the world --- forever. Over two decades later, all across the planet, “flash” technology allows individuals the ability to transfer their consciousness into other bodies for specified periods, paid, registered and legal. Society has been utterly transformed by the process, from travel to warfare to entertainment. But beyond the reach of the law and government regulators is a sordid black market called the darkshare, where desperate “vessels” anonymously rent out their bodies, no questions asked, for any purpose --- sex, drugs, crime...or worse.
Harper Perennial | 9780062890641
THE ARRANGEMENT by Robyn Harding (Psychological Thriller)
Natalie, a young art student in New York City, is struggling to pay her bills when a friend makes a suggestion: Why not go online and find a sugar daddy? Though more than 30 years her senior, Gabe, a handsome corporate finance attorney, seems like the perfect candidate. Within a month, they are madly in love. At least Nat is. Gabe already has a family and has no intention of leaving them. So when he abruptly ends things, Nat can’t let go. She begins drinking heavily and stalking him. But Gabe is not about to let his sugar baby destroy his perfect life. What was supposed to be a mutually beneficial arrangement devolves into a nightmare of deception, obsession and, when a body is found near Gabe’s apartment, murder.
Gallery Books/Scout Press | 9781982110505
THE BERLIN GIRL by Mandy Robotham (Historical Romance)
Paperback Original
Berlin, 1938: It’s the height of summer, and Germany is on the brink of war. When fledgling reporter Georgie Young is posted to Berlin, alongside fellow Londoner Max Spender, she knows they are entering the eye of the storm. Arriving to a city swathed in red flags and crawling with Nazis, Georgie feels helpless, witnessing innocent people being torn from their homes. As tensions rise, she realizes that she and Max have to act --- even if it means putting their lives on the line. But when she digs deeper, Georgie begins to uncover the unspeakable truth about Hitler’s Germany --- and the pair are pulled into a world darker than she ever could have imagined.
Avon | 9780008418632
THE DEAD GIRLS CLUB by Damien Angelica Walters (Supernatural Thriller)
In 1991, Heather Cole and her friends were members of the Dead Girls Club. Obsessed with the macabre, the girls exchanged stories about serial killers and imaginary monsters, like the Red Lady, the spirit of a vengeful witch killed centuries before. Heather knew the stories were just that, until her best friend, Becca, began insisting the Red Lady was real --- and she could prove it. That belief got Becca killed. It's been nearly 30 years, and Heather has done her best to put that fateful summer, Becca and the Red Lady behind her. Until a familiar necklace arrives in the mail, a necklace she hasn't seen since the night Becca died. The night Heather killed her. Now, someone else knows what she did...and they're determined to make Heather pay.
Crooked Lane Books | 9781643856483
THE DEAD SEASON: A Shana Merchant Novel by Tessa Wegert (Mystery/Thriller)
Paperback Original
After leaving the NYPD following her abduction by serial killer Blake Bram, Shana Merchant hoped for a fresh start in the Thousand Islands of Upstate New York. Her former tormentor has other plans. When the decades-old skeleton of Shana's estranged uncle is uncovered, Bram issues a challenge: Return home to Vermont and solve the cold case, or the blood he spills next will be on her hands. As Shana interviews members of her family and the community, mining for secrets that could help her solve her uncle's murder, she begins to realize how little she remembers of her childhood. And when Bram kidnaps again, leaving a trail of clues Shana alone can understand, she knows his new victim will only survive if she wins the psychopath’s twisted game.
Berkley | 9780593097915
GENIUS & ANXIETY: How Jews Changed the World, 1847-1947 by Norman Lebrecht (History)
In a hundred-year period, a handful of men and women changed the way we see the world. Many of them are well known, such as Marx, Freud, Proust, Einstein and Kafka. Others have vanished from collective memory despite their enduring importance in our daily lives. Without Karl Landsteiner, for instance, there would be no blood transfusions or major surgery. Without Rosalind Franklin, genetic science would look very different. Without Fritz Haber, there would not be enough food to sustain life on earth. What do these visionaries have in common? They all had Jewish origins. Norman Lebrecht has devoted half of his life to pondering and researching the mindset of the Jewish intellectuals, writers, scientists and thinkers who turned the tides of history and shaped the world today as we know it.
Scribner | 9781982134266
KEEP IT MOVING: Lessons for the Rest of Your Life by Twyla Tharp (Self-Help)
At 78, Twyla Tharp is revered not only for the dances she makes, but for her astounding regime of exercise and nonstop engagement. She is famed for religiously hitting the gym each morning at daybreak, and utilizing that energy to propel her breakneck schedule as a teacher, writer, creator and lecturer. KEEP IT MOVING is a series of no-nonsense mediations on how to live with purpose as time passes. From the details of how she stays motivated to the stages of her evolving fitness routine, Tharp models how fulfillment depends not on fortune but on attitude, possible for anyone willing to try and keep trying. Culling anecdotes from Twyla’s life and the lives of other luminaries, each chapter is accompanied by a small exercise that will help anyone develop a more hopeful and energetic approach to the everyday.
Simon & Schuster | 9781982101312
LAYLA by Colleen Hoover (Paranormal Romance)
Paperback Original
When Leeds meets Layla, he’s convinced he’ll spend the rest of his life with her --- until an unexpected attack leaves Layla fighting for her life. After weeks in the hospital, Layla recovers physically, but the emotional and mental scarring has altered the woman Leeds fell in love with. In order to put their relationship back on track, Leeds whisks Layla away to the bed-and-breakfast where they first met. Once they arrive, Layla’s behavior takes a bizarre turn. Feeling distant from Layla, Leeds soon finds solace in Willow, another guest of the B&B with whom he forms a connection through their shared concerns. As his curiosity for Willow grows, his decision to help her find answers puts him in direct conflict with Layla’s well-being.
Montlake | 9781542000178
LIFE ISN’T EVERYTHING: Mike Nichols, as Remembered by 150 of His Closest Friends by Ash Carter and Sam Kashner (Biography)
The work of Mike Nichols pervades American cultural consciousness --- from The Graduate and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? to Angels in America, The Birdcage, Working Girl and Primary Colors, not to mention his string of hit plays, including "Barefoot in the Park" and "The Odd Couple." If that weren’t enough, he was also one half of the timelessly funny duo Nichols & May, as well as a founding member of the original improv troupe. Most fans, however, know very little of the person behind it all. Here, for the first time, Ash Carter and Sam Kashner offer an intimate look behind the scenes of Nichols' life, as told by the stars, moguls, playwrights, producers, comics and crew members who stayed loyal to Nichols for years.
Picador | 9781250763648
THE LIGHT OF ALL THAT FALLS by James Islington (Fantasy/Adventure)
After a savage battle, the Boundary is whole again --- but it may be too late. Banes now stalk the lands of Andarra, and the Venerate have gathered their armies for a final, crushing blow. In Ilin Illan, Wirr fights to maintain a precarious alliance between Andarra's factions of power. With dark forces closing in on the capital, if he cannot succeed, the war is lost. Imprisoned and alone in a strange land, Davian is pitted against the remaining Venerate. As he tries to keep them from undoing Asha's sacrifice, he struggles to come to terms with his own path and all he has learned about Caeden, the friend he chose to set free. Finally, Caeden is confronted with the reality of a plan laid centuries ago --- heartbroken at how it started and devastated by how it must end.
Orbit | 9780316274159
MARY BALL WASHINGTON: The Untold Story of George Washington's Mother by Craig Shirley (Biography)
Stubborn, aristocratic Mary Ball Washington was entrenched in the Old World ways of her ancestors, dismissing the American experiment even as her son led the successful rebellion against the crown. During his youth, ambitious George dove into the hard-scrabble work of a surveyor and rose through the ranks of the fledgling colonial army, even as his overprotective mother tried to discourage these efforts. While she passed down her strength and individuality to George, Mary also sought to protect him from the risks he needed to take to become a daring general and president. But it was this resistance itself that fanned the spark of George’s independence into a flame. The constant tug of war between the two throughout the early years helped define George’s character.
Harper Paperbacks | 9780062456526
THE MISSING AMERICAN: The First Emma Djan Investigation by Kwei Quartey (Mystery)
When her dreams of rising through the Accra police ranks crash around her, 26-year-old Emma Djan is unsure what will become of her career. Through a sympathetic former colleague, she gets an interview with a private detective agency that takes on cases of missing persons, theft and infidelity. Meanwhile, Gordon Tilson, a middle-aged widower in Washington, DC, has found solace in an online community after his wife’s passing. Through the support group, he’s even met a young Ghanaian widow he’s come to care about. When her sister gets into a car accident, he sends her thousands of dollars to cover the hospital bill --- to the horror of his only son, Derek. Then Gordon decides to surprise his new love by paying her a visit --- and disappears.
Soho Crime | 9781641292122
NAKED CAME THE FLORIDA MAN by Tim Dorsey (Mystery/Humor)
With his best bro Colman riding shotgun, Serge A. Storms hits the highway in his ’69 gold Plymouth Satellite, putting pedal to the metal on a grand tour of the past. Beginning in Key West, the sunshine boys’ odyssey includes a forgotten mass grave in Palm Beach County holding the remains of African Americans killed by the Great Hurricane of 1928, and the resting place of one world-famous television dolphin (RIP Flipper) from the 1960s. But one deadland --- a haunted old sugar field --- holds more than just the bones of those who’ve passed. For years, local children have whispered about a boogeyman hiding among the stalks. Could it be the same maniac known as Naked Florida man who’s been raising hell all over the place?
William Morrow Paperbacks | 9780062795946
PAPER SON: A Lydia Chin/Bill Smith Novel by S. J. Rozan (Mystery)
The Mississippi Delta isn’t a place that Lydia Chin, an American-born Chinese private detective from Chinatown, NYC, ever thought she’d have reason to go. But when her mother tells her a cousin Lydia didn’t know she had is in jail in Clarksdale, Mississippi --- and that Lydia has to rush down south and get him out --- Lydia finds herself rolling down Highway 61 with Bill Smith, her partner, behind the wheel. From the river levees to the refinement of Oxford, from old cotton gins to new computer scams, Lydia soon finds that nothing in Mississippi is as she expected it to be. Including her cousin’s legal troubles --- or possibly even his innocence.
Pegasus Books | 9781643136127
A PROMISE OF ANKLES: A 44 Scotland Street Novel by Alexander McCall Smith (Fiction)
Paperback Original
For the residents of 44 Scotland Street, life in Edinburgh's intriguing New Town is a thing to be relished. After all, there are new faces to excite Domenica's anthropological imagination, precious moments with his triplets for Matthew to savor, and the prospect of a trip to the promised land of Glasgow for young Bertie. But there are mysteries that need solving too. Could Angus Lordie's dog, Cyril, have unearthed a Neanderthal skull? Does the long-suffering Stuart have any hope of kindling a new relationship when Bruce, ever the navel gazer and consummate seducer, effortlessly steps into his pas de deux? And how will the patrons of Big Lou's cafe react to the menu's imminent culinary transformation?
Anchor | 9780593313282
RELENTLESS: A Brick Kavanagh Mystery by Shawn Wilson (Mystery)
Cherry blossom season is Washington, D.C.’s most beautiful time of the year. But as tourists flock to the city, this year’s festivities are marred by the discovery of the naked body of a young woman floating in the Tidal Basin. Veteran homicide detective Brian (Brick) Kavanagh is assigned to the case. He’s shocked when he learns the victim is connected to another homicide, which makes the investigation very personal for him. Brick’s efforts to solve the case are thwarted by departmental politics and a rush to judgment. Convinced that justice has not been served and the wrong person is in jail, Kavanagh risks all to relentlessly pursue the truth.
Oceanview Publishing | 9781608094028
SEARCHING FOR SYLVIE LEE by Jean Kwok (Fiction)
Sylvie, the beautiful, brilliant, successful older daughter of the Lee family, flies to the Netherlands for one final visit with her dying grandmother --- and then vanishes. Amy, the sheltered baby of the Lee family, is too young to remember a time when her parents were newly immigrated and too poor to keep Sylvie. Seven years older, Sylvie was raised by a distant relative in a faraway, foreign place and didn’t rejoin her family in America until age nine. Timid and shy, Amy has always looked up to her sister, the fierce and fearless protector who showered her with unconditional love. But what happened to Sylvie? Amy and her parents are distraught and desperate for answers.
William Morrow Paperbacks | 9780062834324
THE SEEP by Chana Porter (Speculative Fiction)
Trina Goldberg-Oneka is a 50-year-old trans woman whose life is irreversibly altered in the wake of a gentle --- but nonetheless world-changing --- invasion by an alien entity called The Seep. Through The Seep, everything is connected. Capitalism falls, hierarchies and barriers are broken down; if something can be imagined, it is possible. Trina and her wife, Deeba, live blissfully under The Seep’s utopian influence --- until Deeba begins to imagine what it might be like to be reborn as a baby, which will give her the chance at an even better life. Using Seeptech to make this dream a reality, Deeba moves on to a new existence, leaving Trina devastated. Heartbroken and deep into an alcoholic binge, Trina follows a lost boy she encounters, embarking on an unexpected quest.
Soho Press | 9781641292153
VALERIE: OR, THE FACULTY OF DREAMS written by Sara Stridsberg, translated by Deborah Bragan-Turner (Fiction)
In April 1988, Valerie Solanas --- the writer, radical feminist, author of the SCUM Manifesto and would-be assassin of Andy Warhol --- was discovered dead at 52 in her hotel room, in a grimy corner of San Francisco, alone, penniless and surrounded by the typed pages of her last writings. In VALERIE, a nameless narrator revisits the room where Solanas died, the courtroom where she was tried and convicted of attempting to murder Andy Warhol, the Georgia wastelands where she spent her childhood, and was repeatedly raped by her father and beaten by her alcoholic grandfather, and the mental hospitals where she was shut away.
Picador | 9781250619594
ZED by Joanna Kavenna (Fiction/Satire)
One corporation has made a perfect world based on a perfect algorithm. Now what to do with all these messy people? Lionel Bigman is dead. Murdered by a robot. Guy Matthias, the philandering founder and CEO of the mega-corporation Beetle, insists it was human error. But was it? Either the predictive algorithms of Beetle's supposedly omniscient “lifechain” don't work, or they've been hacked. Both scenarios are impossible to imagine and signal the end of Beetle's technotopia and life as we know it.
Anchor | 9781984898340
On Sale the Week of December 14th in Hardcover
December 14th
REVOLUTIONS OF ALL COLORS by Dewaine Farria (Fiction)
Gabriel Mathis, a 23-year-old aspiring fantasy writer and reluctant Russophile, travels to Ukraine to teach English and meets the love of his life: an international arms dealer very much out of his league. Simon --- a former Special Forces medic, torn over a warped sense of duty and a child he did not want --- returns to the US to pursue his dream of becoming a mixed martial artist. After spending his adolescence defending his bisexuality, Michael makes his mark in New York’s fashion industry while nursing resentment for a community that never accepted him. Dewaine Farria traces the lives of brothers Michael and Gabriel and their friend Simon from adolescence to their mid-20s, through Oklahoma, Afghanistan, New York, Somalia, Ukraine and New Orleans.
Syracuse University Press | 9780815611264
December 15th
THE GARDEN OF PROMISES AND LIES by Paula Brackston (Historical Fantasy)
As the bustle of the winter holidays in the Little Shop of Found Things gives way to spring, Xanthe is left to reflect on the strange events of the past year. While she has tried to keep her time-traveling talents a secret from those close to her, she is forced to take responsibility for having inadvertently transported the dangerous Benedict Fairfax to her own time. It is then that a beautiful antique wedding dress sings to her. Realizing the dress and her adversary are connected in some way, she answers the call and finds herself in Bradford-on-Avon in 1815. Fairfax is threatening Xanthe into helping him with his evil doings, and demonstrates all too clearly how much damage he is capable of causing.
St. Martin's Press | 9781250072450
I CAME AS A SHADOW: An Autobiography by John Thompson with Jesse Washington (Autobiography)
After three decades at the center of race and sports in America, the first Black head coach to win an NCAA championship makes the private public at last. Chockful of stories and moving beyond mere stats, John Thompson’s book drives us through his childhood under Jim Crow segregation to our current moment of racial reckoning. We experience riding shotgun with Celtics icon Red Auerbach, and coaching NBA Hall of Famers like Patrick Ewing and Allen Iverson. And thawing his historically glacial stare, Thompson brings us into his negotiation with a DC drug kingpin in his players’ orbit in the 1980s, as well as behind the scenes of his years on the Nike board.
Henry Holt and Co. | 9781250619358
On Sale the Week of December 14th in Paperback
December 15th
THE ANCIENT HOURS by Michael Bible (Fiction)
Paperback Original
Harmony, North Carolina is a typical town --- full of saints and sinners you can’t tell apart. Its history echoes with lynchings and shootings, mob violence and vigilante justice. But those are just whispers of a past lost to time. The summer of 2000 was different. Iggy in the Baptist church. Gasoline and a match. Twenty-five people dead. Told in a kaleidoscope of timelines and voices, Michael Bible examines every dimension of a tragic but all-too-American story in THE ANCIENT HOURS. The victims, witnesses, perpetrators and condemned comingle and evolve as the passage of time works its way through their lives. What emerges is a fable of the American South in the highest tradition: soaring, tragic and eternally striving for redemption.
Melville House | 9781612198644
BOMBSHELL: A Teddy Fay Novel Featuring Stone Barrington by Stuart Woods and Parnell Hall (Thriller/Adventure)
Teddy Fay is back in Hollywood and caught in two tricky situations. First, a rising star at Centurion becomes the target of malicious gossip, and Teddy must find and neutralize the source before the situation gets out of hand --- or becomes violent. At the same time, Teddy finds himself targeted by a criminal thug bearing a grudge. It's a lot of knives to juggle, even for a former-CIA-operative-turned-movie-producer accustomed to hazardous working conditions. This time Teddy will need to leverage every bit of his undercover skills and fearless daring to stay one step ahead of his foes…or he will find himself one foot in the grave.
G.P. Putnam’s Sons | 9780593083260
THE LAST TO SEE HER by Courtney Evan Tate (Psychological Thriller)
Paperback Original
Gen is on the verge of a divorce from her cheating husband. When her sister, Meg, has a convention to attend in the Big Apple, she invites Gen along to celebrate her newly found freedom. But the perfect sisters’ getaway quickly goes awry when a tipsy Gen defiantly throws her wedding ring off the hotel room’s balcony. Then, wanting some fresh air, she decides to take a late-evening walk alone and vanishes without a trace. The investigation that follows uncovers secrets --- and betrayals --- between sisters and spouses that will twist the truth in on itself until nothing is clear. What really happened to Gen, and who, besides Meg, was the last to see her?
Mira | 9780778309413
NYPD RED 6 by James Patterson and Marshall Karp (Mystery/Thriller)
Paperback Original
Reality star Erin Easton's "Wedding of the Century" may have a cable crew documenting every extravagant bridal detail, but when "Airhead Easton" disappears from the reception, it's no diva turn. Her dressing room is empty but for a blood-spattered wedding gown and signs of a struggle. Detective Kylie MacDonald of NYPD Red, already on-scene as a plus-one, loops in her partner, Detective Zach Jordan, to activate Level One mobilization for this PR nightmare. But when Erin's "proof of life" video makes it to air --- rather than to evidence --- every A-lister on the guest list becomes a target of suspicion...or just a target.
Grand Central Publishing | 9781538713884
A SMALL TOWN by Thomas Perry (Thriller)
Twelve conspirators meticulously plan to throw open all the gates to the prison that contains them, so that more than a thousand convicts may escape and pour into the nearby small town. The newly freed prisoners rape, murder and destroy the town. An immense search ensues, but the 12 who plotted it all get away. After two years, all efforts by the local and federal police agencies have been in vain. Leah Hawkins, a former star basketball player and resident good cop, is placed on sabbatical so that she can tour the country learning advanced police procedures. The sabbatical is merely a ruse, however, as her real job is to track the infamous 12 and kill them. Soon, the surviving fugitives realize what she is up to, and a race to kill or be killed ensues.
Mysterious Press | 9780802148445
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