July 6, 2021

July 6, 2021

In this newsletter, you will find books releasing the weeks of July 5th and July 12th 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 2021 Virtual Vacation Reads feature, which gives you the opportunity to virtually travel with our list of books set in idyllic vacation locales. All the titles here are hardcovers and paperbacks that have been published this year, or will be releasing in the weeks to come. We also have included links to indie bookstores that are at or near each of these locations, so you can pay them a virtual visit and do some shopping as well!

We have two new "Bookreporter Talks To" interviews to share with you in this newsletter. First up is T. J. Newman, whose first novel, FALLING, is July's #1 Indie Next pick and will be a Bookreporter.com Bets On selection. T. J., a former flight attendant, got the idea for this standout thriller when she was on a flight and asked the captain, “Hey, what would you do if your family was taken, and you were told that if you didn’t crash the plane, they would be killed?” His reaction, and where her imagination took her next, became FALLING. The book was written on many a cross-country red-eye flight --- often with scribbles on napkins and random notes stuffed into her pockets.

T. J. was a bookseller before becoming a flight attendant, so she knows exactly how special it is for a debut author's work to be selected as a #1 Indie Next pick. This is one of the tightest and most haunting thrillers of the year --- from the title, jacket cover and premise, right through to the prose. T. J. talks about how it all came together and what she's working on next. Click here to watch the video and here to listen to the podcast.

Carol's second interview is with Kate White, whose new stand-alone thriller, THE FIANCÉE, also will be a Bets On pick. Summer, her husband Gabe, her nine-year-old stepson Henry, and other relatives have gathered at her in-laws’ 60-acre estate for their annual family get-together. Enter Hannah, Summer's brother-in-law's new girlfriend. Although she seems familiar to Summer, Hannah claims they've never met. When a member of the family dies, Summer starts an investigation of her own to prove it couldn't have been natural causes, thinking that Hannah must've been involved and needs to be exposed.

Kate and Carol worked together many moons ago at Mademoiselle before Kate became Editor-in-Chief of Cosmopolitan, so it was a real pleasure for Carol to catch up with her. Kate talks about how she became a published author and the lessons she learned in the process, explains how she pursues her craft, and gives us an insider look at her next book. Click here to watch the video and here to listen to the podcast.

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

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, July 7th at 7pm ET: Flint Memorial Library: Join writing duo Lynne and Valerie Constantine, aka Liv Constantine, for a thrilling conversation about their new book, THE STRANGER IN THE MIRROR, with moderator Hank Phillippi Ryan.

Wednesday, July 7th 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 celebrate the launch of Kristin's new novel, THE FOREST OF VANISHING STARS.

Wednesday, July 7th at 8pm ET: Country Bookshelf: Country Bookshelf is over the moon to welcome Montana writer Catherine Raven to their virtual stage to share her extraordinary memoir, FOX AND I, with Outside Magazine editor Tim Cahill.

Thursday, July 8th at 6pm ET: Northshire Bookstore: Kate White will present her latest thriller, THE FIANCÉE, in conversation with Lisa Unger (CONFESSIONS ON THE 7:45).

Thursday, July 8th at 7pm ET: Georgia Center for the Book: Join Georgia Center for the Book for a discussion with Cherie Jones and Vanessa Riley, moderated by Nicki Salcedo. They will discuss their new books, HOW THE ONE-ARMED SISTER SWEEPS HER HOUSE and ISLAND QUEEN.

Thursday, July 8th at 7pm ET: Warwick's: Warwick's will host Connor Sullivan as he discusses his debut novel, SLEEPING BEAR, with Matthew Quirk.

Thursday, July 8th at 8pm ET: Boswell Books and Books & Company: Christina Clancy  will be in conversation with Liam Callahan about her latest novel, SHOULDER SEASON.

Thursday, July 8th at 9pm ET: Poisoned Pen Bookstore: Linda Castillo will discuss FALLEN, her new mystery starring Chief of Police Kate Burkholder, with Barbara Peters.

Friday, July 9th at 9pm ET: Vroman's Bookstore: T. J. Newman will be in conversation with Lou Berney about her first thriller, FALLING.

Monday, July 12th at 7pm ET: Brookline Booksmith: Celebrate the release of THE STRANGER IN THE MIRROR with Liv Constantine and moderator Hank Phillippi Ryan.

Monday, July 12th at 8pm ET: Murder By The Book: Murder By The Book is partnering with Marcus JCC of Atlanta & The National JCC Literary Consortium for an "In Your Living Room Live" event to celebrate the launch of Daniel Silva’s THE CELLIST. Silva will be in conversation with CNN's chief political correspondent, Dana Bash.

Tuesday, July 13th at 3pm ET: Barnes & Noble Book Club: Barnes & Noble will host a Facebook Live discussion for their June book club pick, THE OTHER BLACK GIRL, featuring Zakiya Dalila Harris in conversation with Dawnie Walton.

Tuesday, July 13th at 7pm ET: Barnes & Noble: Join Barnes & Noble as they welcome Daniel Silva to talk about his new book, THE CELLIST, with anchor and host of CNN's "At This Hour," Kate Bolduan.

Tuesday, July 13th at 7pm ET: Main Street Books: Join Main Street Books for a virtual book launch celebrating SUCH A QUIET PLACE featuring Megan Miranda in conversation with Kimberly McCreight (A GOOD MARRIAGE).

Tuesday, July 13th at 8pm ET: Poisoned Pen Bookstore: Connor Sullivan will discuss his first thriller, SLEEPING BEAR, with his father, fellow author Mark Sullivan.

This Week's Bonus News:
Bookreporter.com’s 2021 Virtual Vacation Reads
Books Set in Getaway Locations

On Sale the Week of July 5th in Hardcover

July 6th

THE 22 MURDERS OF MADISON MAY by Max Barry (Speculative Psychological Thriller)
"I love you. In every world." Young real estate agent Madison May is shocked when a client at an open house says these words to her. The man, a stranger, seems to know far too much about her, and professes his love --- shortly before he murders her. To journalist Felicity Staples, the crime seems random and the suspect is in the wind. That is, until Felicity spots the killer on the subway, right before he vanishes. Soon, Felicity senses that her entire universe has shifted. No one remembers Madison May, or Felicity's encounter with the mysterious man. And her cat is missing. Felicity realizes that in her pursuit of Madison's killer, she followed him into a different dimension --- one where everything about her existence is slightly altered.
G.P. Putnam's Sons | 9780593085202

AN AMBUSH OF WIDOWS by Jeff Abbott (Psychological Thriller)
Henry North is a down-on-his-luck cybersecurity expert from New Orleans. Adam Zhang is the cofounder of one of Austin’s most successful venture capitalist firms. These two men didn’t know each other. Yet they died together, violently, in a place neither had any business being. When Henry doesn’t return from a business trip, his wife, Kirsten, gets an anonymous phone call: “Your husband is dead in Austin.” Flora Zhang knew her husband was keeping secrets. She suspected an affair, but she had decided she could forgive him for his weakness --- until he ended up dead. And with no explanation for her husband’s murder, the police begin to suspect her. Together, these two widows will face a powerful foe determined to write a false narrative about the murders.
Grand Central Publishing | 9781538719145

BETWEEN TWO KINGS: A Sequel to The Three Musketeers written by Alexandre Dumas, translated by Lawrence Ellsworth (Historical Fiction/Adventure)
This brand-new translation of BETWEEN TWO KINGS immediately picks up the story and themes of BLOOD ROYAL, where d’Artagnan tries to thwart destiny by saving England’s Charles I. Now, he will be instrumental in the restoration of his son, Charles II, the first of the two kings of the title. Disappointed in the irresolution of young Louis XIV, d’Artagnan takes a leave of absence from the King’s Musketeers and ventures to England with a bold plan to hoist Charles II onto his throne, a swashbuckling escapade in which he is unwittingly assisted by his old comrade Athos. D’Artagnan returns triumphant to France, where he is recalled to service by the second king, Louis XIV, who is now finally ready to take full advantage of the extraordinary talents of his officer of musketeers.
Pegasus Books | 9781643137506

THE BONE CODE: A Temperance Brennan Novel by Kathy Reichs (Thriller)
On the way to hurricane-ravaged Isle of Palms, a barrier island off the South Carolina coast, Tempe receives a call from the Charleston coroner. The storm has tossed ashore a medical waste container. Inside are two decomposed bodies wrapped in plastic sheeting and bound with electrical wire. Tempe recognizes many of the details as identical to those of an unsolved case she handled in Quebec years earlier. With a growing sense of foreboding, she travels to Montreal to gather evidence. Meanwhile, health authorities in South Carolina become increasingly alarmed as a human flesh-eating contagion spreads. Someone is protecting a dark secret --- and willing to do anything to keep it hidden.
Scribner | 9781982139964

BUILD YOUR HOUSE AROUND MY BODY by Violet Kupersmith (Fiction/Magical Realism)
1986: The teenage daughter of a wealthy Vietnamese family loses her way in an abandoned rubber plantation while fleeing her angry father and is forever changed. 2011: A young, unhappy Vietnamese American woman disappears from her new home in Saigon without a trace. The fates of these two women are inescapably linked, bound together by past generations, by ghosts and ancestors, by the history of possessed bodies and possessed lands. Each new character and timeline brings us one step closer to understanding what binds them all.
Random House | 9780812993325

THE COVER WIFE by Dan Fesperman (Thriller)
When CIA agent Claire Saylor is told that she’ll be going undercover in Hamburg to pose as the wife of an academic who has published a controversial interpretation of the Quran’s promise to martyrs, she assumes the job is a punishment for past unorthodox behavior. But when she discovers her team leader is Paul Bridger, another Agency maverick, she realizes there may be more to this mission than meets the eye --- and not just for professional reasons. Meanwhile, across town in Hamburg, Mahmoud, a recent Moroccan émigré, begins to fall under the sway of a group of radicals at his local mosque. The deeper he’s drawn into the group, the greater the danger he faces, and he is soon torn between his obligations to them and his feelings toward a beautiful westernized Muslim woman.
Knopf | 9780525657835

DEAR MISS METROPOLITAN by Carolyn Ferrell (Fiction)
Fern seeks refuge from her mother’s pill-popping and boyfriends via “Soul Train”; Gwin finds salvation in the music of Prince much to her congregation’s dismay; and Jesenia, miles ahead of her classmates at her gifted and talented high school, is a brainy and precocious enigma. None of this matters to Boss Man, the monster who abducts them and holds them captive in a dilapidated house in Queens. On the night they are finally rescued, throngs line the block gawking and claiming ignorance. Among them is lifetime resident Miss Metropolitan, advice columnist for the local weekly. But how could anyone who fancies herself a “newspaperwoman” have missed a horror story unfolding right across the street? And why is it that only two of the three girls --- now women --- were found.
Henry Holt and Co. | 9781250793614

DOG EAT DOG: An Andy Carpenter Mystery by David Rosenfelt (Mystery)
Lawyer Andy Carpenter and his wife, Laurie, enjoy walking their dogs, Tara and Sebastian. When out for one of their strolls, their simple ritual isn’t so simple anymore. Across the street, a man is mistreating his dog. Three things happen at once: Andy yells, Laurie runs to stop the abuse, and so does a closer passerby, who so thoroughly beats the owner that both are arrested when the cops arrive. Andy scoops up the dog and takes him to the Tara Foundation, the dog rescue organization that’s always been his true passion. Meanwhile, at the police station, the passerby is identified as Matthew Jantzen, and he’s wanted for murder. Andy and Laurie are struck by the fact that Jantzen, a man on the run, would nevertheless intervene to help a dog, and decide to find out more.
Minotaur Books | 9781250257123

THE EMPIRE'S RUIN by Brian Staveley (Fantasy)
The Annurian Empire is disintegrating. The advantages it used for millennia have fallen to ruin. The ranks of the Kettral have been decimated from within, and the kenta gates, granting instantaneous travel across the vast lands of the empire, can no longer be used. In order to save the empire, one of the surviving Kettral must voyage beyond the edge of the known world through a land that warps and poisons all living things to find the nesting ground of the giant war hawks. Meanwhile, a monk turned con-artist may hold the secret to the kenta gates. But time is running out. Deep within the southern reaches of the empire, an ancient god-like race has begun to stir. What they discover will change them and the Annurian Empire forever. If they can survive.
Tor Books | 9780765389909

EVERYONE IN THIS ROOM WILL SOMEDAY BE DEAD by Emily Austin (Fiction/Dark Humor)
Gilda, a twenty-something atheist and an animal-loving lesbian, cannot stop ruminating about death. Alienated from her repressive family, she responds to a flyer for free therapy at a local Catholic church. Assuming she’s there for a job interview, Father Jeff hires her to replace the recently deceased receptionist Grace. Gilda strikes up an email correspondence with Grace’s old friend. She can’t bear to ignore the kindly old woman, who has been trying to reach her friend through the church inbox, but she also can’t bring herself to break the bad news. Desperate, she begins impersonating Grace via email. But when the police discover suspicious circumstances surrounding Grace’s death, Gilda may have to finally reveal the truth of her mortifying existence.
Atria Books | 9781982167356

FALLEN by Linda Castillo (Mystery/Thriller)
When a young woman is found murdered in a Painters Mill motel, Chief of Police Kate Burkholder is shocked to discover she once knew the victim. Rachael Schwartz was a charming but troubled Amish girl who left the fold years ago and fled Painters Mill. Why was she back in town? And who would kill her so brutally? Kate remembers Rachael as the only girl who was as bad at being Amish as Kate was --- and those parallels dog her. But the more Kate learns about Rachael's life, the more she's convinced that her dubious reputation was deserved. As the case heats to a fever pitch and long-buried secrets resurface, a killer haunts Painters Mill. Someone doesn’t want Rachael’s past --- or the mysteries she took with her to the grave --- coming to light.
Minotaur Books | 9781250142924

FALLING by T. J. Newman (Thriller)
You just boarded a flight to New York. There are 143 other passengers onboard. What you don’t know is that 30 minutes before the flight, your pilot’s family was kidnapped. For his family to live, everyone on your plane must die. The only way the family will survive is if the pilot follows his orders and crashes the plane. Enjoy the flight.
Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster | 9781982177881

THE FOREST OF VANISHING STARS by Kristin Harmel (Historical Fiction)
After being stolen from her wealthy German parents and raised in the unforgiving wilderness of eastern Europe, a young woman finds herself alone in 1941 after her kidnapper dies. Her solitary existence is interrupted, however, when she happens upon a group of Jews fleeing the Nazi terror. Stunned to learn what’s happening in the outside world, she vows to teach the group all she can about surviving in the forest --- and in turn, they teach her some surprising lessons about opening her heart after years of isolation. But when she is betrayed and escapes into a German-occupied village, her past and present come together in a shocking collision that could change everything.
Gallery Books | 9781982158934

FOX AND I: An Uncommon Friendship by Catherine Raven (Memoir)
When Catherine Raven finished her PhD in biology, she built herself a tiny cottage on an isolated plot of land in Montana. She viewed it as a way station, a temporary rest stop where she could gather her nerves and fill out applications for what she hoped would be a real job that would help her fit into society. In the meantime, she taught remotely and led field classes in nearby Yellowstone National Park. Then one day she realized that a mangy-looking fox was showing up on her property every afternoon at 4:15 p.m. She sat as close to him as she dared and began reading to him from THE LITTLE PRINCE. Her scientific training had taught her not to anthropomorphize animals, yet as she grew to know him, his personality revealed itself and they became friends.
Spiegel & Grau | 9781954118003

HALF SICK OF SHADOWS by Laura Sebastian (Fantasy)
Everyone knows the legend. Of Arthur, destined to be a king. Of the beautiful Guinevere, who will betray him with his most loyal knight, Lancelot. Of the bitter sorceress, Morgana, who will turn against them all. But Elaine alone carries the burden of knowing what is to come --- for Elaine of Shalott is cursed to see the future. On the mystical isle of Avalon, Elaine runs free and learns of the ancient prophecies surrounding her and her friends --- countless possibilities, almost all of them tragic. When their future comes to claim them, Elaine, Guinevere, Lancelot and Morgana accompany Arthur to take his throne in stifling Camelot, where magic is outlawed, the rules of society chain them, and enemies are everywhere. Yet the most dangerous threats may come from within their own circle.
Ace | 9780593200513

AN IRISH HOSTAGE: A Bess Crawford Mystery by Charles Todd (Historical Mystery)
The Great War is over --- but in Ireland, in the wake of the bloody 1916 Easter Rising, anyone who served in France is now considered a traitor, including nurse Eileen Flynn and former soldier Michael Sullivan, who only want to be married in the small, isolated village where she grew up. Even her grandmother is against it, and Eileen’s only protection is her cousin Terrence, who was a hero of the Rising and is still being hunted by the British. Bess Crawford had promised to be there for the wedding. And in spite of the danger to her, she keeps that promise --- only to be met with the shocking news that the groom has vanished. Eileen begs for her help, but how can Bess hope to find him when she doesn’t know the country, the people or where to put her trust?
William Morrow | 9780062859853

ISLAND QUEEN by Vanessa Riley (Historical Fiction)
Born into slavery on the tiny Caribbean island of Montserrat, Doll bought her freedom --- and that of her sister and her mother --- from her Irish planter father and built a legacy of wealth and power as an entrepreneur, merchant, hotelier and planter that extended from the marketplaces and sugar plantations of Dominica and Barbados to a glittering luxury hotel in Demerara on the South American continent. Vanessa Riley’s novel brings Doll to vivid life as she rises above the harsh realities of slavery and colonialism by working the system and leveraging the competing attentions of the men in her life: a restless shipping merchant, Joseph Thomas; a wealthy planter hiding a secret, John Coseveldt Cells; and a roguish naval captain who will later become King William IV of England.
William Morrow | 9780063002845

NINE LIVES by Danielle Steel (Fiction)
After a carefree childhood, Mary Margaret Kelly came of age in the shadow of grief. Her father, a dashing daredevil Air Force pilot, died when she was nine, and she saw her mother struggle to put their lives back together. Maggie married a dependable, kind man who was a reliable husband and successful accountant. Together they had a son and found happiness in a conventional suburban life. Until tragedy struck. Now on her own, Maggie decides to face her fears, setting off on a whirlwind trip. But when her travels reconnect her with the very same irresistible, thrill-seeking man she’s spent 30 years trying to forget, Maggie becomes terrified that rushing into love and sharing his life may very well end in disaster.
Delacorte Press | 9781984821430

THE PAPER PALACE by Miranda Cowley Heller (Fiction)
Elle, a 50-year-old happily married mother of three, awakens at “The Paper Palace” --- the family summer place that she has visited every summer of her life. But this morning is different: Last night, Elle and her oldest friend, Jonas, crept out the back door into the darkness and had sex with each other for the first time, all while their spouses chatted away inside. Now, over the next 24 hours, Elle will have to decide between the life she has made with her genuinely beloved husband, Peter, and the life she always imagined she would have had with her childhood love, Jonas, if a tragic event hadn’t forever changed the course of their lives. As Miranda Cowley Heller colors in the experiences that have led Elle to this day, we arrive at her ultimate decision with all its complexity.
Riverhead Books | 9780593329825

PHOSPHORESCENCE: A Memoir of Finding Joy When Your World Goes Dark by Julia Baird (Memoir)
After surviving a difficult heartbreak and battle with cancer, acclaimed author and columnist Julia Baird began thinking deeply about how we, as people, persevere through the most challenging circumstances. She started to wonder, when we are overwhelmed by illness, loss or pain, or a tragedy outside our control: How can we keep putting one foot in front of the other? Baird went in search of the magic that fuels the light within --- our own phosphorescence. In PHOSPHORESCENCE, she reflects on the things that lit her way through the darkness, especially the surprising strength found in connecting with nature and not just experiencing awe and wonder about the world around her, but deliberately hunting it, daily.
Random House | 9780593236918

RAZORBLADE TEARS by S. A. Cosby (Mystery/Thriller)
Ike Randolph has been out of jail for 15 years, with not so much as a speeding ticket in all that time. But a Black man with cops at the door knows to be afraid. The last thing he expects to hear is that his son Isiah has been murdered, along with Isiah’s white husband, Derek. Ike had never fully accepted his son but is devastated by his loss. Derek’s father Buddy Lee was almost as ashamed of Derek for being gay as Derek was ashamed that his father was a criminal. Buddy Lee still has contacts in the underworld, though, and he wants to know who killed his boy. Ike and Buddy Lee, two ex-cons with little else in common other than a criminal past and a love for their dead sons, band together in their desperate desire for revenge.
Flatiron Books | 9781250252708

SHOULDER SEASON by Christina Clancy (Fiction)
Nineteen-year-old Sherri Taylor plays the organ at the local church and has never felt comfortable in her own skin. But when her parents die in quick succession, she leaves the only home she’s ever known for the chance to be part of a glamorous slice of history. In the winter of 1981, Sherri joins the daughters of dairy farmers and factory workers for the defining experience of her life. Living in the “bunny hutch” --- Playboy’s version of a college dorm --- Sherri gets her education in the joys of sisterhood, the thrill of financial independence, the magic of first love, and the heady effects of sex, drugs, and rock and roll. But as spring gives way to summer, Sherri finds herself caught in a romantic triangle --- and the tragedy that ensues will haunt her for the next 40 years.
St. Martin's Press | 9781250239631

SILVER TEARS written by Camilla Läckberg, translated by Ian Giles (Thriller)
Faye Adelheim is living a delicious lie. Wealthy beyond imagination, she is the Chairman of her self-made global cosmetics brand, and her ex-husband, the monster who killed her beloved daughter Julienne, is living out the remainder of his days behind bars. But unbeknownst to journalists, police officers and investors, and even the lovers she occasionally invites to her bed, Faye has a secret: her daughter is, in fact, alive and well and so is her mother, the woman Faye’s father was sentenced for allegedly killing years ago. Together, three generations of women have survived in hiding from the men who sought to destroy them. But unfortunately for Faye, cages are meant to be opened, pillow talk can lead to betrayal, and secrets always end in tears.
Knopf | 9780525657996

SLEEPING BEAR by Connor Sullivan (Thriller)
After her young husband’s untimely death, Army veteran Cassie Gale decides to take a few days of solitude in the Alaska wilderness before she starts her new job. But when she fails to show up on her first day and her dog is discovered injured at her wrecked campsite, her father knows that this is much more than a camping trip gone awry. As it turns out, Cassie is not the first person to disappear without a trace in Alaska’s northern interior. But not all disappearances can be explained. Cassie’s is one of them, along with a number of other outdoor enthusiasts who have vanished in recent years. Regaining consciousness in a Russian prison, Cassie finds herself trapped in a system designed to ensure that no one ever escapes alive.
Atria/Emily Bestler Books | 9781982166397

THE STRANGER IN THE MIRROR by Liv Constantine (Psychological Thriller)
Addison is about to get married but is not looking forward to the big day. She doesn't know who she really is. A few years ago, a kind driver found her bleeding next to a New Jersey highway and rescued her. While her physical wounds healed, Addison’s memory never returned. She doesn’t know her real name. Or how she ended up injured on the side of a road. Or why she can’t shake the notion that she may have done something very, very bad. In a posh home in the Boston suburbs, Julian tries to figure out what happened to his loving, caring wife, Cassandra, who disappeared without a trace two years ago. She never would have left him and their seven-year-old daughter Valentina of her own free will. Or would she?
Harper | 9780062967329

TENDER IS THE BITE: A Chet & Bernie Mystery by Spencer Quinn (Mystery)
Chet and Bernie are contacted by a terribly scared young woman who seems to want their help. Before she can even tell them her name, she flees in panic. But in that brief meeting Chet sniffs out an important secret about her, a secret at the heart of the mystery he and Bernie set out to solve. It's a case with no client and no crime and yet great danger, with the duo facing a powerful politician who has a lot to lose. Their only hope lies with a ferret named Griffie who adores Bernie. Is there room for a ferret in the Chet and Bernie relationship? That's the challenge Chet faces, the biggest of his career. Hanging in the balance are the lives of two mistreated young women and the future of the whole state.
Forge Books | 9781250770240

TOGETHER WE WILL GO by J. Michael Straczynski (Fiction)
Mark Antonelli, a failed young writer looking down the barrel at 30, is planning a cross-country road trip. He buys a beat-up old tour bus. He hires a young army vet to drive it. He puts out an ad for others to join him along the way. But this will be a road trip like no other: His passengers are all fellow disheartened souls who have decided that this will be their final journey. Upon arrival in San Francisco, they will find a cliff with an amazing view of the ocean at sunset, hit the gas and drive out of this world. We get to know them through access to their texts, emails, voicemails and the daily journal entries they write as the price of admission for this trip.
Gallery/Scout Press | 9781982142582

TREJO: My Life of Crime, Redemption, and Hollywood by Danny Trejo, with Donal Logue (Memoir)
On screen, Danny Trejo the actor is a baddie who has been killed at least a hundred times. Off screen, he’s a hero beloved by recovery communities and obsessed fans alike. But the real Danny Trejo is much more complicated than the legend. Raised in an abusive home, Danny struggled with heroin addiction and stints in some of the country’s most notorious state prisons from an early age before starring in such modern classics as Heat, From Dusk till Dawn and Machete. Now, in this funny, painful and suspenseful memoir, Danny takes us through the incredible ups and downs of his life, including meeting one of the world’s most notorious serial killers in prison and working with legends like Charles Bronson and Robert De Niro.
Atria Books | 9781982150822

THE WAR NURSE by Tracey Enerson Wood (Historical Fiction)
Superintendent of Nurses Julia Stimson must recruit 65 nurses to relieve the battle-worn British, months before American troops are ready to be deployed. She knows that the young nurses serving near the front lines will face a challenging situation, but nothing could have prepared her for the chaos that awaits when they arrive at British Base Hospital 12 in Rouen, France. When trainloads of soldiers stricken by a mysterious respiratory illness arrive one after the other, overwhelming the hospital's limited resources and threatening the health of her staff, Julia faces an unthinkable choice --- to step outside the bounds of her profession and risk the career she has fought so hard for, or to watch the people she cares for most die in her arms.
Sourcebooks Landmark | 9781492698166

WAYWARD by Dana Spiotta (Fiction)
On the heels of the 2016 election, Samantha Raymond's life begins to come apart: her mother is ill, her teenage daughter is increasingly remote, and at 52 she finds herself staring into "the Mids" --- that hour of supreme wakefulness between three and four in the morning in which women of a certain age suddenly find themselves contemplating motherhood, mortality and, in this case, the state of our unraveling nation. When she falls in love with a beautiful, decrepit house in a hardscrabble neighborhood in Syracuse, she buys it on a whim and flees her suburban life --- and her family --- as she grapples with how to be a wife, a mother and a daughter, in a country that is coming apart at the seams.
Knopf | 9780593318737

THE WONDER TEST by Michelle Richmond (Thriller)
Escaping New York City and the espionage case that made her question everything, recently widowed FBI Agent Lina Connerly returns home to sell the house she has inherited in tony Greenfield, California. Adrift and battling insomnia, she discovers that her father's sleepy hometown has been transformed into a Silicon Valley suburb on steroids, obsessed with an annual exam called The Wonder Test. When students at her son's high school go missing, reappearing under mysterious circumstances on abandoned beaches, Lina must summon her strength and her investigative instincts, pushing her own ethical boundaries to the limits in order to solve the crimes. Meanwhile, an old espionage case called Red Vine keeps calling her back into the fold.
Atlantic Monthly Press | 9780802158505

On Sale the Week of July 5th in Paperback

July 6th

ANTKIND by Charlie Kaufman (Fiction)
B. Rosenberger Rosenberg, a neurotic and underappreciated film critic, stumbles upon a hitherto unseen film made by an enigmatic outsider --- a film he’s convinced will change his career trajectory and rock the world of cinema to its core. His hands on what is possibly the greatest movie ever made --- a three-month-long stop-motion masterpiece that took its reclusive auteur 90 years to complete --- B. knows that it is his mission to show it to the rest of humanity. The only problem: The film is destroyed, leaving him the sole witness to its inadvertently ephemeral genius. All that’s left of this work of art is a single frame from which B. must somehow attempt to recall the film that just might be the last great hope of civilization.
Random House Trade Paperbacks | 9780399589690

ANXIOUS PEOPLE by Fredrik Backman (Fiction)
Looking at real estate isn’t usually a life-or-death situation, but an apartment open house becomes just that when a failed bank robber bursts in and takes a group of strangers hostage. Each of them carries a lifetime of grievances, hurts, secrets and passions that are ready to boil over. None of them is entirely who they appear to be. And all of them --- the bank robber included --- desperately crave some sort of rescue. As the authorities and the media surround the premises, these reluctant allies will reveal surprising truths about themselves and set in motion a chain of events so unexpected that even they can hardly explain what happens next.
Washington Square Press | 9781501160844

THE BIG GOODBYE: Chinatown and the Last Years of Hollywood by Sam Wasson (Entertainment/Biography)
In Sam Wasson’s THE BIG GOODBYE, the story of Chinatown becomes the defining story of the most colorful characters in the most colorful period of Hollywood history. Here is Jack Nicholson at the height of his powers, as compelling a movie star as there has ever been, embarking on his great, doomed love affair with Anjelica Huston. Here is director Roman Polanski, both predator and prey, haunted by the savage death of his wife, returning to Los Angeles, the scene of the crime, where the seeds of his own self-destruction are quickly planted. Here is the fevered dealmaking of “The Kid” Robert Evans, the most consummate of producers. Here too is Robert Towne’s fabled script, widely considered the greatest original screenplay ever written.
Flatiron Books | 9781250266293

THE BRIGHT LANDS by John Fram (Supernatural Thriller/Horror)
The town of Bentley holds two things dear: its football and its secrets. When star quarterback Dylan Whitley goes missing, fear grips this remote corner of Texas. Dylan’s brother, Joel, a gay man with secrets of his own, is convinced there is more to the disappearance than meets the eye, as does Sheriff’s Deputy Starsha Clark. But their search for answers will bring them to the dark truth behind an urban legend whispered about in the locker rooms and bleachers of this All-American town: The Bright Lands.
Hanover Square Press | 9781335457738

THE COLD VANISH: Seeking the Missing in North America's Wilderness by Jon Billman (True Crime/Nature)
These are the stories that defy conventional logic. The proverbial vanished without a trace incidences, which happen a lot more (and a lot closer to your backyard) than almost anyone thinks. These are the missing whose situations are the hardest on loved ones left behind. The cases that are an embarrassment for park superintendents, rangers and law enforcement charged with Search & Rescue. The ones that baffle the volunteers who comb the mountains, woods and badlands. The stories that should give you pause every time you venture outdoors.
Grand Central Publishing | 9781538747582

THE COMEBACK by Ella Berman (Fiction)
Grace Turner was one movie away from Hollywood’s A-List. So no one understood why, at the height of her career and on the eve of her first Golden Globe nomination, she disappeared. Now, one year later, Grace is back in Los Angeles and ready to reclaim her life on her own terms. When Grace is asked to present a lifetime achievement award to director Able Yorke --- the man who controlled her every move for eight years --- she knows there’s only one way she’ll be free of the secret that’s already taken so much from her.
Berkley | 9780593099520

DEMON IN WHITE: The Sun Eater, Book Three by Christopher Ruocchio (Space Opera/Fantasy)
For almost a hundred years, Hadrian Marlowe has served the Empire in its war against the Cielcin, a vicious alien race bent on humanity’s destruction. Rumors of a new king amongst the Cielcin have reached the Imperial throne. To make matters worse, a cult of personality has formed around Hadrian, spurred on by legends of his having defied death itself. Hadrian’s rise to prominence proves dangerous to himself and his team, as pressures within the Imperial government distrust or resent his new influence. And above it all, there is the mystery of the Quiet. Hadrian did defy death. He did return. But the keys to the only place in the universe where Hadrian might find the answers he seeks lie in the hands of the Emperor himself.
DAW ‎| 9780756413071

THE DEVIL AND THE DARK WATER by Stuart Turton (Historical Mystery/Supernatural Thriller)
It's 1634, and Samuel Pipps, the world's greatest detective, is being transported to Amsterdam to be executed for a crime he may, or may not, have committed. Traveling with him is his loyal bodyguard, Arent Hayes, who is determined to prove his friend innocent. Among the other guests is Sara Wessel, a noblewoman with a secret. But no sooner is their ship out to sea than devilry begins to blight the voyage. A strange symbol appears on the sail. A dead leper stalks the decks. Livestock dies in the night. And then the passengers hear a terrible voice, whispering to them in the darkness, promising three unholy miracles, followed by a slaughter. With Pipps imprisoned, only Arent and Sara can solve a mystery that stretches back into their past and now threatens to sink the ship, killing everybody on board.
Sourcebooks Landmark | 9781728234298

THE EXILES by Christina Baker Kline (Historical Fiction)
Seduced by her employer’s son, Evangeline, a naïve young governess in early 19th-century London, is discharged when her pregnancy is discovered and sent to the notorious Newgate Prison. Months later, she is sentenced to Van Diemen’s Land, a penal colony in Australia. During the journey on a repurposed slave ship, the Medea, Evangeline strikes up a friendship with Hazel, who was sentenced to seven years transport for stealing a silver spoon. Though Australia has been home to Aboriginal people for more than 50,000 years, the British government considers its fledgling colony uninhabited and unsettled. By the time the Medea arrives, many of them have been forcibly relocated, including Mathinna, who has been adopted by the new governor of Van Diemen’s Land.
Custom House | 9780062356338

FINAL CUT by S. J. Watson (Psychological Thriller)
Blackwood Bay. An ordinary place, home to ordinary people. It used to be a buzzing seaside destination. But now, ravaged by the effects of dwindling tourism and economic downturn, it’s a ghost town --- and the perfect place for filmmaker Alex to shoot her new documentary. But the community is deeply suspicious of her intentions. After all, nothing exciting ever happens in Blackwood Bay. Or does it?
Harper Paperbacks | 9780062382160

THE GRANDMOTHER PLOT by Caroline B. Cooney (Mystery)
Paperback Original
Freddy leads a life of little responsibility. His mother is dead, his sisters are far-flung across the globe, and he can't quite work up enough motivation to find himself a girlfriend. He has been forced to place his beloved grandmother, now deep in dementia, in a nursing home. Freddy visits her often, cherishing and also hating the time he spends with the grandmother he always adored, now a ghost of her former self. When a fragile old woman already close to death is murdered in that nursing home, Freddy panics. His sources of income are iffy, as are his friends. He has to keep his grandmother safe, keep himself anonymous, and keep the police out of his life --- or the complications could become deadly.
Poisoned Pen Press | 9781728205151

INCENSE AND SENSIBILITY by Sonali Dev (Romantic Comedy)
Paperback Original
Yash Raje, California’s first Indian-American gubernatorial candidate, attributes his success to a simple mantra: control your feelings and you can control the world. But when a hate crime at a rally critically injures his friend, Yash’s easy life suddenly feels like a lie. When he tries to get back on the campaign trail, he blacks out with panic. Desperate to keep Yash’s condition from leaking to the media, his family turns to the one person they trust --- his sister’s best friend, India Dashwood, California’s foremost stress management coach. Yash has spent a lifetime repressing everything to succeed, including their one magical night 10 years ago --- a too brief, too bright passion that if rekindled threatens to destroy the dream he’s willingly shouldered for his family and community…until now.
William Morrow Paperbacks | 9780063051805

THE JANE AUSTEN SOCIETY by Natalie Jenner (Historical Fiction)
Just after the Second World War, in the small English village of Chawton, an unusual but like-minded group of people band together to attempt something remarkable. One hundred and fifty years ago, Chawton was the final home of Jane Austen, one of England's finest novelists. Now it's home to a few distant relatives and their diminishing estate. With the last bit of Austen's legacy threatened, a group of disparate individuals come together to preserve both Jane Austen's home and her legacy. These people --- a laborer, a young widow, the local doctor and a movie star, among others --- could not be more different, yet they are united in their love for the works and words of Austen. As each of them endures their own quiet struggle with loss and trauma, they rally together to create the Jane Austen Society.
St. Martin’s Griffin | 9781250797179

KILL ALL YOUR DARLINGS by David Bell (Psychological Thriller)
Paperback Original
After years of struggling to write following the deaths of his wife and son, English professor Connor Nye publishes his first novel, a thriller about the murder of a young woman. There’s just one problem: Connor didn’t write the book. His missing student did. And then she appears on his doorstep, alive and well, threatening to expose him. Connor’s problems escalate when the police insist details in the novel implicate him in an unsolved murder from two years ago. Soon Connor discovers the crime is part of a disturbing scandal on campus and faces an impossible dilemma --- admit he didn’t write the book and lose his job, or keep up the lie and risk everything. When another murder occurs, Connor must clear his name by unraveling the horrifying secrets buried in his student’s manuscript.   
Berkley | 9780593198674

THE LANTERN MEN: A Ruth Galloway Mystery by Elly Griffiths (Mystery)
Ruth Galloway has a new job, home and partner, and she is no longer North Norfolk police’s resident forensic archaeologist. That is, until convicted murderer Ivor March offers to make DCI Nelson a deal. Nelson was always sure that March killed more women than he was charged with. Now March confirms this and offers to show Nelson where the other bodies are buried --- but only if Ruth will do the digging. March tells Ruth that he killed four more women and that their bodies are buried near a village bordering the fens, said to be haunted by the Lantern Men, mysterious figures holding lights that lure travelers to their deaths. Is Ivor March himself a lantern man, luring Ruth back to Norfolk? What is his plan, and why is she so crucial to it? And are the killings really over?
Mariner Books | 9780358522454

THE LOST BOOK OF ADANA MOREAU by Michael Zapata (Fiction)
In 1929 in New Orleans, a Dominican immigrant named Adana Moreau writes a science fiction novel. The novel earns rave reviews, and Adana begins a sequel. Then she falls gravely ill. Just before she dies, she destroys the only copy of the manuscript. Decades later in Chicago, Saul Drower is cleaning out his dead grandfather’s home when he discovers a mysterious manuscript written by none other than Adana Moreau. With the help of his friend Javier, Saul tracks down an address for Adana’s son in New Orleans, but as Hurricane Katrina strikes, they must head to the storm-ravaged city for answers.
Hanover Square Press | 9781335147356

LOST AND FOUND FAMILY by Jennifer Ryan (Fiction)
Paperback Original
Sara Anderson knows she’s on an impossible quest to make peace with the one person who truly hates her. For years, Sara has hidden the truth about her late husband’s lies from their children and their grandmother. When her mother-in-law, Margaret, threatens her with legal action to see the boys, Sara strikes a bargain: she’ll bring them for a six-week visit, hoping the boys will find connection and happiness with their extended family. It doesn’t help that attorney and part-time rancher Luke Thompson lives right next door, and as an old friend of the family’s, he’s agreed to investigate Sara’s past. Luke doesn’t feel comfortable poking around in the very successful tech CEO’s private life. What he finds is a truth very different from the one he’s been led to believe.
William Morrow Paperbacks | 9780063003514

MIGRATIONS by Charlotte McConaghy (Fiction)
Franny Stone has always been the kind of woman who is able to love but unable to stay. Leaving behind everything but her research gear, she arrives in Greenland with a singular purpose: to follow the last Arctic terns in the world on what might be their final migration to Antarctica. Franny talks her way onto a fishing boat, and she and the crew set sail, traveling ever further from shore and safety. But as Franny’s history begins to unspool --- a passionate love affair, an absent family, a devastating crime --- it becomes clear that she is chasing more than just the birds. When Franny's dark secrets catch up with her, how much is she willing to risk for one more chance at redemption?
Flatiron Books | 9781250204035

MUZZLED: An Andy Carpenter Mystery by David Rosenfelt (Mystery)
Andy Carpenter is a lawyer who would rather not practice law. He'd prefer to spend his time working with the Tara Foundation, his dog rescue organization, and be with his family and his two dogs, Tara and Sebastian. But when a friend asks him for a favor that involves both dogs and his lawyerly expertise, he can't say no. Andy's friend, Beth, has found a stray that seems to have belonged to a murder victim --- in fact, the man and two of his colleagues died in an explosion a few weeks ago. But when the murdered man contacts Beth, asking for his dog back, Andy knows there must be more to the story. The man claims his life is in danger, and that's why he disappeared.
Minotaur Books | 9781250796158

NANTUCKET PENNY: A Henry Kennis Mystery by Steven Axelrod (Mystery)
Paperback Original
When people begin disappearing from the island, Nantucket Police Chief Henry Kennis is baffled. The victims are not random --- they're all Nantucket High School alumni. And the only clues left behind are pennies dropped at the sites of the kidnappings. Has someone come back to the island with a sinister grudge to settle? Sippy Bascomb and Doug Fraker were childhood best friends --- bonded as fellow victims of bullying at the hands of their classmates. The two men hadn't seen each other in years, but when Sippy comes across Doug's blog airing grievances from the past, the two reconnect and hatch a plan to return to the island. Both seek revenge, but Doug wants their tormentors to face a tribunal and appoints himself judge, jury and executioner.
Poisoned Pen Press | 9781464214165

OTHER PEOPLE’S PETS by R.L. Maizes (Fiction)
La La Fine relates to animals better than she does to other people. Abandoned by a mother who never wanted a family, raised by a locksmith-turned-thief father, La La looks to pets when it feels like the rest of the world conspires against her. La La’s world stops being whole when her mother abandons her twice. First, when La La falls through thin ice on a skating trip, and again when the accusations of “unfit mother” feel too close to true. Left alone with her father, La La is denied a regular life. She becomes her father’s accomplice, calming the watchdog while he strips families of their most precious belongings. When her father’s luck runs out and he is arrested for burglary, everything La La has painstakingly built unravels.
Celadon Books | 9781250304162

OUT OF DARKNESS, SHINING LIGHT by Petina Gappah (Historical Fiction)
“This is how we carried out of Africa the poor broken body of Bwana Daudi, the Doctor, David Livingstone, so that he could be borne across the sea and buried in his own land.” So begins Petina Gappah's novel of exploration and adventure in 19th-century Africa --- the captivating story of the loyal men and women who carried explorer and missionary Dr. Livingstone's body, his papers and maps, 1,500 miles across the continent of Africa, so his remains could be returned home to England and his work preserved there. Narrated by Halima, the doctor's sharp-tongued cook, and Jacob Wainwright, a rigidly pious freed slave, this is a story that encompasses all of the hypocrisy of slavery and colonization, while celebrating resilience, loyalty and love.
Scribner | 9781982110345

THE PARTY UPSTAIRS by Lee Conell (Fiction)
Ruby has a strange relationship to privilege. She grew up the super's daughter in the basement of an Upper West Side co-op that gets more gentrified with each passing year. Her close childhood friendship with Caroline, the daughter of affluent tenants, and the mere fact of living in such a wealthy neighborhood brought her certain advantages, even expectations. Ruby took out loans to attend a prestigious small liberal arts college and explore her interest in art. But now she has been forced by circumstances to move back in with her parents. And Caroline is throwing one of her parties tonight, in her father's glorious penthouse apartment, a party that Ruby looks forward to and dreads in equal measure.
Penguin Books | 9781984880291

THE PATIENT by Jasper DeWitt (Psychological Thriller/Supernatural Horror)
In a series of online posts, Parker H., a young psychiatrist, chronicles the harrowing account of his time working at a dreary mental hospital in New England. Through this internet message board, Parker hopes to communicate with the world his effort to cure one bewildering patient --- a 40-year-old man who was originally admitted to the hospital at age six. This patient has no known diagnosis, and his symptoms seem to evolve over time. Every person who has attempted to treat him has been driven to madness or suicide. Parker takes it upon himself to discover what ails this mystery patient and finally cure him. Facing a possibility beyond his wildest imaginings, Parker is forced to question everything he thought he knew.
Mariner Books | 9780358561828

THE PULL OF THE STARS by Emma Donoghue (Historical Fiction)
In an Ireland doubly ravaged by war and disease in 1918, nurse Julia Power works at an understaffed hospital in the city center, where expectant mothers who have come down with the terrible new Flu are quarantined together. Into Julia's regimented world step two outsiders: Doctor Kathleen Lynn, a rumoured Rebel on the run from the police, and a young volunteer helper, Bridie Sweeney. In the darkness and intensity of this tiny ward, over three days, these women change each other's lives in unexpected ways. They lose patients to this baffling pandemic, but they also shepherd new life into a fearful world. With tireless tenderness and humanity, carers and mothers alike somehow do their impossible work.
Back Bay Books | 9780316499033

THE STRANGER BEHIND YOU by Carol Goodman (Psychological Thriller/Mystery)
Paperback Original
Joan Lurie has written a seething article exposing a notorious newspaper tycoon as a sexual predator. But after getting brutally attacked on the night it goes live, she moves into a highly secure apartment in Manhattan called the Refuge. Joan should be safe here, so how can she explain the cryptic incidents that are happening? Lillian Day is Joan’s new 96-year-old neighbor at the Refuge. In 1941, Lillian witnessed a murder that sent her into hiding, and she hasn’t come out since. Melissa Osgood has burning questions about her husband’s recent death. When she discovers a suspicious paper trail that he left behind, she realizes how little she knew about her marriage. As their lives intersect, each woman must stay one step ahead of those who are desperate to make sure the truth is never uncovered.
William Morrow Paperbacks | 9780063020665

STRANGER IN THE SHOGUN’S CITY: A Japanese Woman and Her World by Amy Stanley (History)
The daughter of a Buddhist priest, Tsuneno was born in a rural Japanese village and was expected to live a traditional life much like her mother’s. But after three divorces --- and a temperament much too strong-willed for her family’s approval --- she ran away to make a life for herself in one of the largest cities in the world: Edo, a bustling metropolis at its peak. With Tsuneno as our guide, we experience the drama and excitement of Edo just prior to the arrival of American Commodore Perry’s fleet, which transformed Japan. During this pivotal moment in Japanese history, Tsuneno bounces from tenement to tenement, marries a masterless samurai, and eventually enters the service of a famous city magistrate.
Scribner | 9781501188534

SURVIVOR SONG by Paul Tremblay (Psychological Thriller/Horror)
In a matter of weeks, Massachusetts has been overrun by an insidious rabies-like virus that is spread by saliva. Those infected quickly lose their minds and are driven to bite and infect as many others as they can before they inevitably succumb. Dr. Ramola "Rams" Sherman receives a frantic phone call from Natalie, a friend who is eight months pregnant. Natalie's husband has been killed --- viciously attacked by an infected neighbor --- and Natalie, too, has been bitten. Her only chance of survival is to get to a hospital as quickly as possible to receive a rabies vaccine. The clock is ticking for her and for her unborn child. Natalie’s fight for life becomes a desperate odyssey as she and Rams make their way through a hostile landscape filled with dangers beyond their worst nightmares.
William Morrow Paperbacks | 9780062679178

THE SWALLOWS by Lisa Lutz (Fiction)
When Alexandra Witt joins the faculty at Stonebridge Academy, she’s hoping to put a painful past behind her. Then one of her creative writing assignments generates some disturbing responses from students. Before long, Alex is immersed in an investigation of the students atop the school’s social hierarchy --- and their connection to something called the Darkroom. She soon inspires the girls who’ve started to question the school’s “boys will be boys” attitude and incites a resistance. But just as the movement is gaining momentum, Alex attracts the attention of an unknown enemy who knows a little too much about her --- and what brought her to Stonebridge in the first place.
Ballantine Books | 9781984818256

THE TASTE OF SUGAR by Marisel Vera (Historical Fiction)
It is 1898, and groups of starving Puerto Ricans, los hambrientos, roam the parched countryside and dusty towns begging for food. Under the yoke of Spanish oppression, the Caribbean island is forced to prepare to wage war with the United States. Up in the mountainous coffee region of Utuado, Vicente Vega and Valentina Sanchez labor to keep their small farm from the creditors. When the Spanish-American War and the great San Ciriaco Hurricane of 1899 bring devastating upheaval, the young couple is lured, along with thousands of other puertorriquenos, to the sugar plantations of Hawaii --- another US territory --- where they are confronted by the hollowness of America’s promises of prosperity.
Liveright | 9781631499043

TOO GOOD TO BE REAL by Melonie Johnson (Romantic Comedy)
Paperback Original
While her friends wish for meet-cutes worthy of their favorite rom-coms, Julia is ready to give up on love. A writer for a popular website, love becomes the last thing on her mind when impending layoffs threaten her job. As Julia searches for the ultimate pitch to impress her boss, she stumbles upon a resort offering guests a chance to live out their romantic comedy dreams. She literally falls into a not-quite-meet-cute involving an aggressive seagull and an adorably awkward guy named Luke, who is also participating in the rom-com experience. Julia hides the fact that she is there to do a story, but Luke harbors a few secrets of his own. Their feelings deepen quickly. But could their love be real when they haven't been honest about their true identities?
St. Martin's Griffin | 9781250768803

TRANSCENDENT KINGDOM by Yaa Gyasi (Fiction)
Gifty is a sixth-year PhD candidate in neuroscience at the Stanford University School of Medicine studying reward-seeking behavior in mice and the neural circuits of depression and addiction. Her brother, Nana, was a gifted high school athlete who died of a heroin overdose after an ankle injury left him hooked on OxyContin. Her suicidal mother is living in her bed. Gifty is determined to discover the scientific basis for the suffering she sees all around her. But even as she turns to the hard sciences to unlock the mystery of her family's loss, she finds herself hungering for her childhood faith and grappling with the evangelical church in which she was raised, whose promise of salvation remains as tantalizing as it is elusive.
Vintage | 9781984899767

WANT by Lynn Steger Strong (Fiction)
Elizabeth is tired. Years after coming to New York to try to build a life, she has found herself with two kids, a husband, two jobs, a PhD --- and now they’re filing for bankruptcy. As she tries to balance her dream and the impossibility of striving toward it while her work and home lives feel poised to fall apart, she wakes at ungodly hours to run miles by the icy river, struggling to quiet her thoughts. When she reaches out to Sasha, her long-lost childhood friend, it feels almost harmless --- one of those innocuous ruptures that exist online, in texts. But her timing is uncanny. Sasha is also facing a crisis, and perhaps after years apart, their shared moments of crux can bring them back into each other’s lives.
Picador | 9781250801074

WINTER COUNTS by David Heska Wanbli Weiden (Thriller)
Virgil Wounded Horse is the local enforcer on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota. When justice is denied by the American legal system or the tribal council, Virgil is hired to deliver his own punishment. But when heroin makes its way into the reservation and finds Virgil’s nephew, his vigilantism suddenly becomes personal. He enlists the help of his ex-girlfriend and sets out to learn where the drugs are coming from, and how to make them stop. They follow a lead to Denver and find that drug cartels are rapidly expanding and forming new and terrifying alliances. And back on the reservation, a new tribal council initiative raises uncomfortable questions about money and power. As Virgil starts to link the pieces together, he must face his own demons and reclaim his Native identity.
Ecco | 9780062968951

YALE NEEDS WOMEN: How the First Group of Girls Rewrote the Rules of an Ivy League Giant by Anne Gardiner Perkins (History)
In the winter of 1969, young women across the country sent in applications to Yale University for the first time. The Ivy League institution dedicated to graduating "one thousand male leaders" each year had finally decided to open its doors to the nation's top female students. Isolated from one another, singled out as oddities and sexual objects, and barred from many of the privileges an elite education was supposed to offer, many of the first girls found themselves immersed in an overwhelmingly male culture they were unprepared to face. YALE NEEDS WOMEN is the story of how these young women fought against the backward-leaning traditions of a centuries-old institution and created the opportunities that would carry them into the future.
Sourcebooks | 9781728234618

On Sale the Week of July 12th in Hardcover

July 13th

ALL THE LONELY PEOPLE by Mike Gayle (Fiction)
In weekly phone calls to his daughter in Australia, widower Hubert Bird paints a picture of the perfect retirement. But it's a lie. In reality, Hubert's days are all the same, dragging on without him seeing a single soul. Until he learns that his daughter is coming for a visit. Now Hubert faces a seemingly impossible task: to make his real life resemble his fake life before the truth comes out. Along the way, Hubert stumbles across a second chance at love, renews a cherished friendship, and finds himself roped into an audacious community scheme that seeks to end loneliness once and for all. Life is certainly beginning to happen to Hubert Bird. But with the origin of his earlier isolation always lurking in the shadows, will he ever get to live the life he's pretended to have for so long?
Grand Central Publishing | 9781538720165

APPLESEED by Matt Bell (Speculative Science Fiction/Thriller)
In 18th-century Ohio, two brothers travel into the wooded frontier, planting apple orchards from which they plan to profit in the years to come. The long-held bonds and secrets between the two will be tested, fractured and broken --- and possibly healed. Fifty years from now, climate change has ravaged the Earth. One company now owns all the world’s resources. But a growing resistance is working to redistribute both land and power --- and one of the company’s original founders intends to destroy what he helped build. A thousand years in the future, North America is covered by a massive sheet of ice. One lonely sentient being inhabits a tech station on top of the glacier --- and sets out to follow a homing beacon across the continent in the hopes of discovering the last remnant of civilization.
Custom House | 9780063040144

BRING YOUR BAGGAGE AND DON'T PACK LIGHT: Essays by Helen Ellis (Humor/Essays)
When Helen Ellis and her lifelong friends arrive for a reunion on the Redneck Riviera, they unpack more than their suitcases: stories of husbands and kids; lost parents and lost jobs; dirty jokes and sunscreen with SPF higher than they hair-sprayed their bangs senior year; and a bad mammogram. It's a diagnosis that scares them, but could never break their bond. Because women pushing 50 won't be pushed around. In these 12 gloriously comic and moving essays, Helen Ellis dishes on married middle-age sex, sobs with a theater full of women as a psychic exorcises their sorrows, gets 20 shots of stomach bile to the neck to get rid of her double chin, and gathers up the courage to ask, "Are you there, Menopause? It's Me, Helen."
Doubleday | 9780385546157

THE CASE OF THE MURDEROUS DR. CREAM: The Hunt for a Victorian Era Serial Killer by Dean Jobb (True Crime)
In the span of 15 years, Dr. Thomas Neill Cream murdered as many as 10 people in the United States, Britain and Canada, a death toll with almost no precedent. Poison was his weapon of choice. Largely forgotten today, this villain was as brazen as the notorious Jack the Ripper. Structured around the doctor’s London murder trial in 1892, when he was finally brought to justice, THE CASE OF THE MURDEROUS DR. CREAM exposes the blind trust given to medical practitioners, as well as the flawed detection methods, bungled investigations, corrupt officials and stifling morality of Victorian society that allowed Dr. Cream to prey on vulnerable and desperate women, many of whom had turned to him for medical help.
Algonquin Books | 9781616206895

THE CELLIST by Daniel Silva (Thriller/Adventure)
Once Russia’s richest man, Viktor Orlov now resides in splendid exile in London, where he has waged a tireless crusade against the authoritarian kleptocrats who have seized control of the Kremlin. Yet somehow, in the midst of a global pandemic, Russia’s vengeful president finally manages to cross Orlov’s name off his kill list. Gabriel Allon owes his very life to Viktor Orlov, and his desperate search for the truth eventually will take him to Geneva, where a private intelligence service controlled by a childhood friend of the Russian president is using KGB-style “active measures” to undermine the West from within. Known as the Haydn Group, the unit is plotting an unspeakable act of violence that will plunge an already divided America into chaos and leave Russia unchallenged.
Harper | 9780062834867

COUNT THE WAYS by Joyce Maynard (Fiction)
Eleanor and Cam meet at a crafts fair in Vermont in the early 1970s. She’s an artist and writer, he makes wooden bowls. Within four years they are parents to three children, two daughters and a red-headed son who fills his pockets with rocks, plays the violin and talks to God. If Eleanor and Cam don’t make love as often as they used to, they have something that matters more. Their family. Then comes a terrible accident, caused by Cam’s negligence. Unable to forgive him, Eleanor is consumed by bitterness, losing herself in her life as a mother, while Cam finds solace with a new young partner. Over the decades that follow, the five members of this fractured family make surprising discoveries and decisions that occasionally bring them together, and often tear them apart.
William Morrow | 9780062398277

EMBASSY WIFE by Katie Crouch (Political Thriller/Satire)
Meet Persephone Wilder, a displaced genius posing as the wife of an American diplomat in Namibia. She suspects her husband is not actually the ambassador’s legal counsel but a secret agent in the CIA. The consummate embassy wife, she takes the newest trailing spouse, Amanda Evans, under her wing. Amanda arrives in Namibia mere weeks after giving up her Silicon Valley job so her husband, Mark, can have his family close by as he works on his Fulbright project. But once they’re settled in the sub-Saharan desert, Amanda sees clearly that Mark, who lived in Namibia two decades earlier, has other reasons for returning. The situation grows even more fraught when their daughter becomes involved in an international conflict and their own government won’t stand up for her.
Farrar, Straus and Giroux | 9780374280345

THE FINAL GIRL SUPPORT GROUP by Grady Hendrix (Psychological Thriller/Horror)
Lynette Tarkington is a real-life final girl who survived a massacre. For more than a decade, she’s been meeting with five other final girls and their therapist in a support group for those who survived the unthinkable, working to put their lives back together. Then one woman misses a meeting, and their worst fears are realized --- someone knows about the group and is determined to rip their lives apart again, piece by piece. But the thing about final girls is that no matter how bad the odds, how dark the night or how sharp the knife, they will never, ever give up.
Berkley | 9780593201237

THE HEATHENS: A Quinn Colson Novel by Ace Atkins (Thriller)
Before he was an Army Ranger who came home to become Tibbehah County Sheriff and take down a corrupt system, Quinn Colson was a kid who got into a lot of trouble. So when juvenile delinquent TJ Byrd insists that she doesn’t know who killed her mother --- an unreliable addict who has disappeared --- Quinn is inclined to believe her. But no one else does. When she senses she’s about to take the fall for her mother’s murder, TJ, her boyfriend, her best friend and her nine-year-old brother go on the run. As Quinn’s friend and former deputy, U.S. Marshal Lillie Virgil, tracks the kids across a trail of burglaries, stolen cars and even a kidnapping, intent on bringing TJ to justice, Quinn sets out to find the truth back in Tibbehah.
G.P. Putnam's Sons | 9780593328392

IT'S BETTER THIS WAY by Debbie Macomber (Fiction)
It’s been nearly six years since Julia Jones had her heart broken. After her husband became involved with another woman, she did everything she could to save their marriage, to no avail. Distraught after selling the family home, Julia moves into a condominium complex and embraces a fulfilling new life, one that doesn’t seem to need a man in it. That is, until she meets Heath Johnson, a handsome new resident in the building’s exercise room, and she can’t help but be drawn to him. As they begin to grow close, their friendship blossoms into an unexpected love. But when a dramatic revelation threatens the happiness they’ve found, Julia and Heath must reconcile their love for their children with their love for each other. If they can’t, their bright future together may be nothing but a dream.
Ballantine Books | 9781984818782

THE LAST COMMANDMENT: An Austin Grant of Scotland Yard Novel by Scott Shepherd (Mystery/Thriller)
Christmastime in London. When three seemingly unconnected victims are murdered with matching sequential Roman numerals carved into their foreheads, Metropolitan Police Commander Austin Grant finds his answer in one of the last places he’d expect: the Holy Bible. Each of the deaths correspond to a transgression of one of the Ten Commandments, and Grant must find the killer before the remaining Commandments are commemorated with homicides. Unfortunately for Grant, the next victim with a number on their forehead turns up not in London, but across the pond at the iconic St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City, turning this English murder case into a transatlantic manhunt spanning two global metropolises, each with its own rich history and culture.
Mysterious Press | 9781613162286

MIDNIGHT, WATER CITY by Chris McKinney (Science Fiction/Noir)
Year 2142: Earth is 40 years past a near-collision with the asteroid Sessho-seki. Akira Kimura, the scientist responsible for eliminating the threat, has reached heights of celebrity approaching deification. But now, Akira feels her safety is under threat, so after years without contact, she reaches out to her former head of security, who has since become a police detective. When he arrives at her deep-sea home and finds Akira methodically dismembered, this detective will risk everything --- his career, his family, even his own life --- and delve back into his shared past with Akira to find her killer.
Soho Crime | 9781641292405

A PSALM FOR THE WILD-BUILT: A Monk and Robot Book by Becky Chambers (Science Fiction/Adventure)
It's been centuries since the robots of Panga gained self-awareness and laid down their tools; centuries since they wandered, en masse, into the wilderness, never to be seen again; centuries since they faded into myth and urban legend. One day, the life of a tea monk is upended by the arrival of a robot, there to honor the old promise of checking in. The robot cannot go back until the question of "what do people need?" is answered. But the answer to that question depends on who you ask, and how. They're going to need to ask it a lot.
Tordotcom | 9781250236210

THE REHEARSALS by Annette Christie (Romantic Comedy)
Megan Givens and Tom Prescott are heading into what is supposed to be their magical wedding weekend on beautiful San Juan Island. But with two difficult families, 10 years of history and all too many secrets, things quickly go wrong. After a disastrous rehearsal dinner, they vow to call the whole thing off --- only to wake up the next morning stuck together in a time loop. Are they really destined to relive the worst day of their lives, over and over? And what happens if their wedding day does arrive?
Little, Brown and Company | 9780316592994

THE SHADOW PEOPLE by Joe Clifford (Noir Psychological Thriller/Horror)
Brandon Cossey’s childhood best friend, Jacob Balfour, has committed suicide. The news about Jacob, who had long battled schizophrenia, does not come as a surprise --- but the bizarre details surrounding his death do. When Jacob’s estranged grandfather, who also suffers from schizophrenia, arrives for the funeral, he tells Brandon that Jacob stumbled upon a secret so deadly he was murdered to keep it quiet. Soon afterwards, Brandon notices odd cars and lookalikes following him, his personal property is hacked and stolen, and he can no longer trust what he thinks he sees. As his grasp on reality recedes and falters, Brandon must question if a sinister gang of doppelgängers, whom Jacob dubbed “the Shadow People,” are really responsible.
Polis Books | 9781951709402

THE STARTUP WIFE by Tahmima Anam (Fiction)
Brilliant coder and possessor of a Pi tattoo, Asha is poised to revolutionize artificial intelligence when she is reunited with her high school crush, Cyrus Jones. Cyrus inspires Asha to write a new algorithm. Before she knows it, she’s abandoned her PhD program, they’ve exchanged vows and gone to work at an exclusive tech incubator called Utopia. The platform creates a sensation, with millions of users seeking personalized rituals every day. Will Cyrus and Asha’s marriage survive the pressures of sudden fame, or will she become overshadowed by the man everyone is calling the new messiah?
Scribner | 9781982156183

STRANGE BEASTS OF CHINA written by Yan Ge, translated by Jeremy Tiang (Metaphysical Fiction/Mystery)
In the fictional Chinese city of Yong’an, an amateur cryptozoologist is commissioned to uncover the stories of its fabled beasts. These creatures live alongside humans in near-inconspicuousness --- save their greenish skin, serrated earlobes and strange birthmarks. Aided by her elusive former professor and his enigmatic assistant, our narrator sets off to document each beast, and is slowly drawn deeper into a mystery that threatens her very sense of self.
Melville House | 9781612199092

SUCH A QUIET PLACE by Megan Miranda (Psychological Thriller/Mystery)
Hollow’s Edge used to be a quiet place. But then came the murder of Brandon and Fiona Truett. A year and a half later, Hollow’s Edge is simmering. The residents are trapped, unable to sell their homes, confronted daily by the empty Truett house, and suffocated by their trial testimonies that implicated one of their own. Ruby Fletcher. And now, Ruby’s back. With her conviction overturned, Ruby waltzes right back to Hollow’s Edge, and into the home she once shared with Harper Nash. It’s increasingly clear that not everyone told the truth about the night of the Truett murders. And when Harper begins receiving threatening notes, she realizes she has to uncover the truth before someone else becomes the killer’s next victim.
Simon & Schuster | 9781982147280

TALL MEN, SHORT SHORTS: The 1969 NBA Finals: Wilt, Russ, Lakers, Celtics, and a Very Young Sports Reporter by Leigh Montville (Sports)
Bill Russell and his juggernaut Boston Celtics, winners of 10 the previous 12 NBA championships, squeak through one more playoff run and land in the Finals again. Russell’s opponent? The fearsome 7’1” next-generation superstar, Wilt Chamberlain, recently traded to the LA Lakers to form the league’s first dream team. The 1969 Celtics are at the end of their dominance. The 1969 Lakers are unstoppable. Add to the mix one newly minted reporter. Covering the epic series is a wide-eyed young sports writer named Leigh Montville, who is ordered by his editor at The Boston Globe to get on a plane to L.A. to write about his luminous heroes. What follows is a raucous, colorful, joyous account of one of the greatest seven-game series in NBA history.
Doubleday | 9780385545198

THE THERAPIST by B. A. Paris (Psychological Thriller)
When Alice and Leo move into a newly renovated house in The Circle, a gated community of exclusive houses, it is everything they’ve dreamed of. But appearances can be deceptive. As Alice is getting to know her neighbors, she discovers a devastating secret about her new home, and begins to feel a strong connection with Nina, the therapist who lived there before. Alice becomes obsessed with trying to piece together what happened two years before. But no one wants to talk about it. Her neighbors are keeping secrets, and things are not as perfect as they seem.
St. Martin's Press | 9781250274120

A TOUCH OF JEN by Beth Morgan (Fiction/Dark Humor)
Remy and Alicia, a couple of insecure service workers, are not particularly happy together. But they are bound by a shared obsession with Jen, a beautiful former co-worker of Remy’s who now seems to be following her bliss as a globe-trotting jewelry designer. In and outside the bedroom, Remy and Alicia's entire relationship revolves around fantasies of Jen, whose every Instagram caption, outfit and new age mantra they know by heart. Imagine their confused excitement when they run into Jen, and she invites them on a surfing trip to the Hamptons with her wealthy boyfriend and their group. Once there, Remy and Alicia try to fit into Jen’s exalted social circle, but violent desire and class resentment bubble beneath the surface of this beachside paradise, threatening to erupt.
Little, Brown and Company | 9780316704267

YOGA PANT NATION by Laurie Gelman (Fiction/Humor)
Jen Dixon of Overland Park, Kansas --- fearless mother of a fifth-grade boy and two thirty-something daughters --- is used to juggling a lot. But when the PTA president throws her a mandate to raise $10,000 for the fifth-grade class, even unflappable Jen is going to need more than her regular spin class to get her through this final year at William Taft Elementary School. In the midst of new complications --- organizing the class overnight to Topeka, an unexpected spin class fan in the form of her husband’s crazy ex-wife, and trying to navigate her parents’ sudden descent into apparent delusions --- Jen hardly has the patience to listen to yet another half-baked idea from WeFUKCT (We Fundraise Until Kingdom Come Team), her fundraising committee. But if anyone can get elementary parents to pull off the impossible, it’s Jen Dixon.
Henry Holt and Co. | 9781250777577

On Sale the Week of July 12th in Paperback

July 13th

AGE OF CONSENT by Amanda Brainerd (Fiction)
It’s 1983, and Justine and Eve are stuck at Griswold Academy, a Connecticut boarding school. Griswold is a far cry from Justine's bohemian life in New Haven, where her parents run a theater and struggle to pay the bills. Eve, the sophisticated daughter of status-obsessed Park Avenue parents, also feels like an outsider amidst Griswold's preppy jocks and debutantes. Despite their differences, they form a deep friendship. After a tumultuous school year, Eve and Justine spend the summer in New York City where they join Eve's childhood friend, India. All three are affected by their sexual relationships with older men and the power adults hold over them, even as the young women begin to assert their independence.
Penguin Books | 9781984879547

THE ANTIDOTE FOR EVERYTHING by Kimmery Martin (Fiction)
Georgia Brown’s profession as a urologist requires her to interact with plenty of naked men, but her romantic prospects have fizzled. The most important person in her life is her friend Jonah Tsukada, a funny, empathetic family medicine doctor who works at the same hospital in Charleston, South Carolina, and who has become as close as family to her. Just after Georgia leaves the country for a medical conference, Jonah shares startling news. The hospital is instructing doctors to stop providing medical care for transgender patients. Jonah, a gay man, is the first to be fired when he refuses to abandon his patients. When Georgia's attempts to address the situation result in incalculable harm, both she and Jonah find themselves facing the loss of much more than their careers.
Berkley | 9781984802842

A BEAUTIFULLY FOOLISH ENDEAVOR by Hank Green (Science Fiction/Humor)
The Carls disappeared the same way they appeared, in an instant. While the robots were on Earth, they caused confusion and destruction with only their presence. Part of their maelstrom was the sudden viral fame and untimely death of April May: a young woman who stumbled into Carl’s path, giving them their name, becoming their advocate, and putting herself in the middle of an avalanche of conspiracy theories. Months later, April’s friends are trying to find their footing in a post-Carl world. Just as it is starting to seem like the gang may never learn the real story behind the events that changed their lives forever, a series of clues arrive --- mysterious books that seem to predict the future and control the actions of their readers --- all of which seems to suggest that April could be very much alive.
Dutton | 9781524743499

BETTY by Tiffany McDaniel (Historical Fiction)
“A girl comes of age against the knife.” So begins the story of Betty Carpenter. Born in a bathtub in 1954 to a white mother and a Cherokee father, Betty is the sixth of eight siblings. The world they inhabit in the rural town of Breathed, Ohio, is one of poverty and violence --- both from outside the family and, devastatingly, from within. But despite the hardships she faces, Betty is resilient. Her curiosity about the natural world, her fierce love for her sisters, and her father’s brilliant stories are kindling for the fire of her own imagination. In the face of all to which she bears witness, Betty discovers an escape: she begins to write.
Vintage | 9781984897947

CONFESSIONS ON THE 7:45 by Lisa Unger (Psychological Thriller)
Selena Murphy is commuting home on the train when she strikes up a conversation with a beautiful stranger in the next seat. The woman introduces herself as Martha and soon confesses that she has been stuck in an affair with her boss. Selena, in turn, confesses that she suspects her husband is sleeping with the nanny. When the train arrives at Selena’s station, the two women part ways, presumably never to meet again. Then the nanny disappears. As Selena is pulled into the mystery of what happened, and as the fractures in her marriage grow deeper, she begins to wonder who Martha really was. But she is hardly prepared for what she will discover.
Park Row | 9780778389293

ELIOT NESS AND THE MAD BUTCHER: Hunting a Serial Killer at the Dawn of Modern Criminology by Max Allan Collins and A. Brad Schwartz (True Crime)
In 1934, the nation’s most legendary crime-fighter --- fresh from taking on the greatest gangster in American history --- arrived in Cleveland, a corrupt and dangerous town about to host a world's fair. It was to be his coronation, as well as the city's. Instead, terror descended, as headless bodies started turning up. The young detective, already battling the mob and crooked cops, found his drive to transform American policing subverted by a menace largely unknown to law enforcement: a serial murderer. Eliot Ness' greatest case had begun. Now, Max Allan Collins and A. Brad Schwartz uncover this lost crime epic, delivering a gripping nonfiction account based on decades of groundbreaking research.
William Morrow Paperbacks | 9780062881984

THE EMPIRE OF GOLD by S. A. Chakraborty (Historical Fantasy)
After a brutal conquest stripped Daevabad of its magic, Nahid leader Banu Manizheh and her resurrected commander, Dara, must try to repair their fraying alliance and stabilize a fractious, warring people. But the bloodletting and loss of his beloved Nahri have unleashed the worst demons of Dara’s dark past. To vanquish them, he must face some ugly truths about his history and put himself at the mercy of those he once considered enemies. Having narrowly escaped their murderous families and Daevabad’s deadly politics, Nahri and Ali, now safe in Cairo, face difficult choices of their own. As peace grows more elusive and old players return, Nahri, Ali and Dara come to understand that in order to remake the world, they may need to fight those they once loved and take a stand for those they once hurt.
Harper Voyager | 9780062678171

THE FINISHER: A Peter Diamond Investigation by Peter Lovesey (Mystery)
Through a particularly ill-fated series of events, Maeve Kelly, an elementary school teacher whose mother always assured her “curvy” girls shouldn’t waste their time trying to be fit, has been forced to sign up for the Other Half, Bath’s springtime half marathon. The training is brutal, but she must disprove her mother and collect pledges for her aunt’s beloved charity. Meanwhile, Detective Peter Diamond is tasked with crowd control on the raucous day of the race --- and catches sight of a violent criminal he put away a decade ago. Diamond’s hackles are already up when he learns that one of the runners never crossed the finish line and disappeared without a trace. Was Diamond a spectator to murder?
Soho Crime | 9781641292887

THE HEIR AFFAIR by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan (Romantic Comedy)
After a scandalous secret turns their fairy-tale wedding into a nightmare, Rebecca "Bex" Porter and her husband, Prince Nicholas, are in self-imposed exile. Cutting themselves off from friends and family, and escaping the world's judgmental eyes, feels like the best way to protect their fragile, all-consuming romance. But when a crisis forces the new Duke and Duchess back to London, the Band-Aid they'd placed over their problems starts to peel at the edges. Now, as old family secrets and new ones threaten to derail her new royal life, Bex has to face the emotional wreckage she and Nick left behind: with the Queen, with the world, and with Nick's brother Freddie, whose sins may not be so easily forgotten --- or forgiven.
Grand Central Publishing | 9781538715932

IMPERSONATION by Heidi Pitlor (Fiction)
Allie Lang is a professional ghostwriter and a perpetually broke single mother. Years of navigating her own and America’s cultural definitions of motherhood have left her a lapsed idealist. Lana Breban is a powerhouse lawyer, economist and advocate for women’s rights with designs on elected office. She and her staff have decided she needs help softening her public image and that a memoir about her life as a mother will help. When Allie lands the job as Lana’s ghostwriter, it seems as if things will finally go Allie’s way. But then childcare arrangements unravel, she falls behind on her rent, it turns out that Lana is better at critiquing than actually providing material, and Allie’s boyfriend decides to go on a road trip toward self-discovery.
Algonquin Books | 9781643751443

IN THE VALLEY: Stories and a Novella Based on SERENA by Ron Rash (Fiction/Short Stories)
In these 10 stories, Ron Rash has created a mesmerizing look at the imperfect world around us, from the severing of ties to the natural world in the relentless hunt for profit to the destruction of body and soul with pills meant to mute our pain. "Baptism" was chosen by Roxane Gay for inclusion in THE BEST AMERICAN SHORT STORIES 2018, and "Neighbors" was selected by Jonathan Lethem for THE BEST AMERICAN MYSTERY STORIES 2019. And in revisiting Serena Pemberton, Rash updates his bestselling parable of greed run amok as his deliciously vindictive heroine returns to the North Carolina wilderness she left scarred and desecrated to make one final effort to kill the child who threatens all she has accomplished.
Anchor | 9780525564225

THE LAKEHOUSE by Joe Clifford (Psychological Thriller)
After being cleared of his wife’s murder, Todd Norman returns to her small Connecticut hometown in order to finish building their dream house by the lake. He is eager to restart his life and cast aside any remaining suspicions...but all of that is dashed when a young woman’s body washes up on the beach next door. When Tracy Somerset, a divorced mother from the small town of Covenant, CT, meets a handsome stranger in a midnight Walmart, she has no idea she is speaking with Todd Norman, the former Wall Street financier dubbed “The Banker Butcher” by the New York tabloids. The following morning, on the beach by Norman’s back-under-construction lakehouse, another young woman’s body is discovered.
Polis Books | 9781951709716

MOTHER DAUGHTER WIDOW WIFE by Robin Wasserman (Fiction)
Wendy Doe is a woman with no past and no future. Without any memory of who she is, she’s diagnosed with dissociative fugue, a temporary amnesia that could lift at any moment --- or never at all --- and invited by Dr. Benjamin Strauss to submit herself for experimental observation at his Meadowlark Institute for Memory Research. With few better options, Wendy feels she has no choice. To Dr. Strauss, Wendy is a female body, subject to his investigation and control. To Strauss’ ambitious student, Lizzie Epstein, she’s an object of fascination, a mirror of Lizzie’s own desires, and an invitation to wonder: Once a woman is untethered from all past and present obligations of womanhood, who is she allowed to become?
Scribner | 9781982139506

MOTHER LAND by Leah Franqui (Fiction)
When Rachel Meyer, a thirtysomething foodie from New York, agrees to move to Mumbai with her Indian-born husband, Dhruv, she knows some culture shock is inevitable. But the ex-pat American’s sense of adventure is sorely tested when her mother-in-law, Swati, suddenly arrives from Kolkata with an even more shocking announcement: she has left her husband of more than 40 years and is moving in with them. When Dhruv is called away on business, these two strong-willed women from such very different backgrounds, who see life so differently, are alone together in a home that each is determined to run in her own way --- a situation that ultimately brings into question the very things in their lives that had seemed perfect and permanent…with results neither of them expect.
William Morrow Paperbacks | 9780062938855

ONE YEAR OF UGLY by Caroline Mackenzie (Fiction/Humor)
After fleeing crumbling, volatile Venezuela, Yola Palacio wants nothing more than to settle into a peaceful new life in Trinidad with her family. And who cares if they’re there illegally --- aren’t most of the people on the island? But life for the Palacios is far from quiet --- and when Yola’s Aunt Celia dies, the family once again finds their lives turned upside down. For Celia had been keeping a very big secret --- she owed a LOT of money to a local criminal named Ugly. And without the funds to pay him off, Ugly has the entire family do his bidding until Celia’s debt is settled. But in the midst of the turmoil appears Roman, Ugly’s distractingly gorgeous right-hand man. And although she knows it’s terrible and quite possibly dangerous, Yola just can’t help but give in to the attraction. Where, though, do Roman’s loyalties lie?
Simon & Schuster | 9781982128920

PLAYING NICE by JP Delaney (Psychological Thriller)
Miles Lambert breaks the devastating news that Pete Riley’s son, Theo, isn’t actually his son --- he is the Lamberts’, switched at birth by an understaffed hospital while their real son was sent home with Miles and his wife, Lucy. For Pete, his partner Maddie, and the little boy they’ve been raising for the past two years, life will never be the same again. The two families take comfort in shared good intentions, eagerly entwining their very different lives in the hope of becoming one unconventional modern family. But a plan to sue the hospital triggers an official investigation that unearths some disturbing questions about the night their children were switched. How much can they trust the other parents --- or even each other?
Ballantine Books | 9781984821362

PRIDE OF EDEN by Taylor Brown (Fiction)
Retired racehorse jockey and Vietnam veteran Anse Caulfield rescues exotic big cats, elephants and other creatures for Little Eden, a wildlife sanctuary near the abandoned ruins of a failed development on the Georgia coast. But when Anse’s prized lion escapes, he becomes obsessed with replacing her --- even if the means of rescue aren’t exactly legal. From the rhino wars of Africa to the battle for the Baghdad Zoo, from the edges of the Okefenokee Swamp to a remote private island off the Georgia coast, Anse and his team battle an underworld of smugglers, gamblers, breeders, trophy hunters and others who exploit exotic game.
Picador | 9781250803047

RACHEL TO THE RESCUE by Elinor Lippman (Fiction/Dark Humor)
Paperback Original
Rachel Klein is sacked from her job at the White House after she sends an email criticizing Donald Trump. As she is escorted off the premises, she is hit by a speeding car, driven by what the press will discreetly call "a personal friend of the President." Does that explain the flowers, the get-well wishes at a press briefing, and the hush money offered by a lawyer at her hospital bedside? Rachel’s recovery is soothed by comically doting parents, matchmaking roommates, a new job as aide to a journalist whose books aim to defame the President, and unexpected love at the local wine store. But secrets leak, and Rachel’s new-found happiness has to make room for more than a little chaos. Will she bring down the President? Or will he manage to do that all by himself?
Mariner Books | 9780358653257

SPIN: A Captain Chase Novel by Patricia Cornwell (Thriller)
In the aftermath of a NASA rocket launch gone terribly wrong, Captain Calli Chase comes face-to-face with her missing twin sister --- as well as the startling truth of who they really are. Now, a top secret program put in motion years ago has spun out of control, and only Calli can redirect its course. Aided by cutting-edge technologies, the NASA investigator and scientist turned Space Force pilot sets out on a frantic search for the missing link between the sabotaged rocket launch and her predetermined destiny…a search that someone else seems very interested in stopping. From NASA to the Chase family farm, to the White House to distant orbits of space, Calli plays a high-stakes game of hide-and-seek with a cunning and ruthless adversary.
Thomas & Mercer | 9781542019538

THE THIRTY NAMES OF NIGHT by Zeyn Joukhadar (Fiction)
Five years after a suspicious fire killed his ornithologist mother, a closeted Syrian American trans boy sheds his birth name and searches for a new one. The only time he feels truly free is when he slips out at night to paint murals on buildings in the once-thriving Manhattan neighborhood known as Little Syria. One night, he enters the abandoned community house and finds the tattered journal of a Syrian American artist named Laila Z, who dedicated her career to painting the birds of North America. She famously and mysteriously disappeared more than 60 years before, but her journal contains proof that both his mother and Laila Z encountered the same rare bird before their deaths. In fact, Laila Z’s past is intimately tied to his mother’s --- and his grandmother’s --- in ways he never could have expected.
Atria Books | 9781982121525

THE TROUBLE WITH PEACE by Joe Abercrombie (Historical Fantasy)
Savine dan Glokta, once Adua's most powerful investor, finds her judgment, fortune and reputation in tatters. But she still has all her ambitions, and no scruple will be permitted to stand in her way. For heroes like Leo dan Brock and Stour Nightfall, only happy with swords drawn, peace is an ordeal to end as soon as possible. But grievances must be nursed, power seized and allies gathered first, while Rikke must master the power of the Long Eye…before it kills her. Unrest worms into every layer of society. The Breakers still lurk in the shadows, plotting to free the common man from his shackles, while noblemen bicker for their own advantage. Orso struggles to find a safe path through the maze of knives that is politics, only for his enemies, and his debts, to multiply.
Orbit | 9780316187190

A VERY PUNCHABLE FACE: A Memoir by Colin Jost (Memoir/Essays)
If there’s one trait that makes someone well suited to comedy, it’s being able to take a punch --- metaphorically and, occasionally, physically. From growing up in a family of firefighters on Staten Island to commuting three hours a day to high school and “seeing the sights” (like watching a Russian woman throw a stroller off the back of a ferry), to attending Harvard while Facebook was created, "Saturday Night Live" head writer and Weekend Update co-anchor Colin Jost shares how he has navigated the world like a slightly smarter Forrest Gump. For every accomplishment (hosting the Emmys), there is a setback (hosting the Emmys). And for every absurd moment (watching paramedics give CPR to a raccoon), there is an honest, emotional one (recounting his mother’s experience on the scene of the Twin Towers’ collapse on 9/11).
Crown | 9781101906347

VESPER FLIGHTS by Helen Macdonald (Nature/Essays)
In VESPER FLIGHTS, Helen Macdonald brings together a collection of her best-loved essays, along with new pieces on topics ranging from nostalgia for a vanishing countryside to the tribulations of farming ostriches to her own private vespers while trying to fall asleep. Meditating on notions of captivity and freedom, immigration and flight, Helen invites us into her most intimate experiences: observing the massive migration of songbirds from the top of the Empire State Building, watching tens of thousands of cranes in Hungary, seeking the last golden orioles in Suffolk’s poplar forests. She writes with heart-tugging clarity about wild boar, swifts, mushroom hunting, migraines, the strangeness of birds’ nests, and the unexpected guidance and comfort we find when watching wildlife.
Grove Press | 9780802158673

WHAT YOU WISH FOR by Katherine Center (Fiction)
Samantha Casey is a school librarian who loves her job, the kids and her school family with passion and joy for living. But she wasn’t always that way. Duncan Carpenter is the new school principal who lives by rules and regulations, guided by the knowledge that bad things can happen. But he wasn’t always that way. And Sam knows it. Because she knew him before --- at another school, in a different life. Back then, she loved him --- but she was invisible. To him. To everyone. Even to herself. She escaped to a new school, a new job, a new chance at living. And then Duncan, of all people, gets hired as the new principal there. He is now a suit-and-tie-wearing, rule-enforcing tough guy so hell-bent on protecting the school that he’s willing to destroy it.
St. Martin’s Griffin | 9781250219374

WHILE WE WERE DATING by Jasmine Guillory (Romantic Comedy)
Paperback Original
When Ben Stephens lands a huge ad campaign featuring movie star Anna Gardiner, it’s hard to keep it purely professional. Anna is not just gorgeous and sexy, she’s also down to earth and considerate, and he can’t help flirting a little. Anna Gardiner is on a mission: to make herself a household name, and this ad campaign will be a great distraction while she waits to hear if she’s booked her next movie. However, she didn’t expect Ben Stephens to be her biggest distraction. Their light-hearted banter takes a turn for the serious when Ben helps Anna in a family emergency, and they reveal truths about themselves to each other, truths they’ve barely shared with those closest to them.
Berkley | 9780593100851

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