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In this newsletter, you will find books releasing the weeks of November 29th and December 6th 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 VERY special contest on ReadingGroupGuides.com, where we are giving readers the opportunity to share their favorite book that they read with their group this year and their favorite book that they read outside their group.
One Grand Prize winner will receive eight outstanding book group titles releasing next year: THE GOOD SON by Jacquelyn Mitchard, HER HIDDEN GENIUS by Marie Benedict, THE LAST HOUSE ON THE STREET by Diane Chamberlain, THE MAGNOLIA PALACE by Fiona Davis, THE MAID by Nita Prose, OLGA DIES DREAMING by Xochitl Gonzalez, THE SCHOOL FOR GOOD MOTHERS by Jessamine Chan, and VIOLETA by Isabel Allende. Be sure to enter by Wednesday, January 12th at noon ET.
We currently are featuring an interview with Dirk Cussler courtesy of Michael Barson from Melville House. Michael was a longtime publicist of Dirk’s father, Clive Cussler, who passed away in February 2020. The newly released CLIVE CUSSLER’S THE DEVIL’S SEA is the 26th installment in Clive’s Dirk Pitt adventure series and the first to be written solely by his son. Among many other topics, Dirk talks about collaborating with his father and if the book’s plot has any parallels to his own involvement in real-life NUMA explorations. Click here to read the interview. You may remember that Michael wrote a fabulous piece for us two years ago about his friendship with Clive, who had just turned 88 at the time. Here's the link in case you missed it.
Please keep in mind that you will have the opportunity to meet some of our longtime reviewers next Wednesday, December 8th as they gather on Zoom starting at 8pm ET to talk about their three favorite books of the year. If you'd like to attend this special 25th anniversary event, click here to sign up. It promises to be such a fun evening!
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, December 1st at 7pm ET: Books-A-Million: Join Patricia Cornwell in conversation with Soledad O’Brien as they celebrate the launch of AUTOPSY, Cornwell's newest Scarpetta novel.
Wednesday, December 1st at 7pm ET: "Friends and Fiction": The "Friends and Fiction" authors --- Mary Kay Andrews, Kristin Harmel, Kristy Woodson Harvey and Patti Callahan Henry --- will talk to thriller writers Christopher Swann and John Hart.
Wednesday, December 1st at 8pm ET: The Poisoned Pen Bookstore: Meg Waite Clayton will talk about her latest novel, THE POSTMISTRESS OF PARIS, a love story and a tale of high-stakes danger and incomparable courage.
Thursday, December 2nd at 3pm ET: Barnes & Noble: Join Barnes & Noble as they welcome bestselling crime author Patricia Cornwell for a live, virtual event to celebrate the release of AUTOPSY, as part of their B&N Midday Mystery Virtual Event series. Cornwell will be in conversation with Jamie Lee Curtis.
Thursday, December 2nd at 3pm ET: Simon & Schuster's Book Club Favorites: Julia Kelly will join members of the Simon & Schuster team for a Facebook Live Book Club chat about THE LAST GARDEN IN ENGLAND, which is November's pick for S&S's Book Club Favorites.
Thursday, December 2nd at 6:30pm ET: Rain Taxi: Join Rain Taxi as they celebrate the publication of THESE PRECIOUS DAYS, the much anticipated new essay collection by Ann Patchett. She will be in conversation with one of the book's very subjects, renowned children’s book author Kate DiCamillo --- an incredible pairing that is not to be missed!
Thursday, December 2nd at 8pm ET: The King's English Bookshop: The King's English Bookshop proudly joins other independent bookshops around the country to present an evening with Ann Patchett for a discussion of her new collection of essays, THESE PRECIOUS DAYS. Patchett will be in conversation with actress Laura Dern.
Tuesday, December 7th at 3pm ET: Barnes & Noble Book Club: Barnes & Noble will host a Facebook Live discussion for their November Book Club selection, OUR COUNTRY FRIENDS, featuring Gary Shteyngart.
Tuesday, December 7th at 7pm ET: The Mark Twain House & Museum: The Mark Twain House & Museum is delighted to welcome New York Times bestselling thriller writer Jeffery Deaver discussing his latest novel, THE MIDNIGHT LOCK, with fellow bestseller Steve Berry.
Tuesday, December 7th at 7pm ET: Warwick's: Warwick's, in partnership with Flatiron Books, is honored to launch the paperback release of Michael J. Fox’s New York Times bestselling memoir, NO TIME LIKE THE FUTURE. To celebrate this new edition, Fox will be in conversation with journalist Willie Geist.
Tuesday, December 7th at 7:30pm ET: Square Books: Square Books is pleased to partner with HarperCollins and fellow indie bookstores to present Ann Patchett in conversation with Amor Towles in celebration of the publication of Patchett's charming essay collection, THESE PRECIOUS DAYS.
This Week's Bonus News:
Special Contest on ReadingGroupGuides.com
Share Your Favorite Books of 2021 and Enter to Win
EIGHT Great Book Group Titles Releasing in 2022!
This is the time of year when we start seeing “Best Books of the Year” lists. We would like you and your book group to help us compile ours! Click here to share both your favorite book that you read with your group in 2021 and your favorite book that you read outside your group by Wednesday, January 12th at noon ET.
One Grand Prize winner will be awarded EIGHT great book group titles releasing in 2022:
Please note: Your favorite book that you discussed with your group CAN be the same as your favorite book of the year. And they don't need to have been published in 2021. Also, please be careful with the spelling of book titles and authors’ first and last names to save us editing time. And one entry per person, please.
We will share our reader-compiled "Best Of" list with you shortly after the contest ends. We cannot wait to see what you select!
Click here to share your favorite books of 2021 and enter the contest.
On Sale the Week of November 29th in Hardcover
November 30th
ALL ABOUT ME!: My Remarkable Life in Show Business by Mel Brooks (Autobiography)
ALL ABOUT ME! charts Mel Brooks’ meteoric rise from a Depression-era kid in Brooklyn to the recipient of the National Medal of Arts. Whether serving in the United States Army in World War II, or during his burgeoning career as a teenage comedian in the Catskills, Mel was always mining his experiences for material and looking for the perfect joke. His book offers fans insight into the inspiration behind the ideas for his outstanding collection of boundary-breaking work, and includes details about the many close friendships and collaborations Brooks had, including those with Sid Caesar, Carl Reiner, Gene Wilder, Madeline Kahn, Alfred Hitchcock and the great love of his life, Anne Bancroft.
Ballantine Books | 9780593159118
AUTOPSY: A Scarpetta Novel by Patricia Cornwell (Mystery/Thriller)
Forensic pathologist Kay Scarpetta has come almost full circle, returning to Virginia as the chief medical examiner, the state where she launched her storied career. Just weeks on the job, she’s called to a scene by railroad tracks where a woman’s body has been shockingly displayed, her throat cut down to the spine. At the same time, a catastrophe occurs in a top-secret laboratory in outer space, endangering at least two scientists aboard. Appointed to the highly classified Doomsday Commission that specializes in sensitive national security cases, Scarpetta is summoned to the White House and tasked with finding out exactly what happened. But even as she works the first potential crime scene in space remotely, an apparent serial killer strikes again very close to home.
William Morrow | 9780063112193
BROTHERS AND WIVES: Inside the Private Lives of William, Kate, Harry, and Meghan by Christopher Andersen (Biography)
DIANA’S BOYS revealed the powerful bond between Princes William and Harry, and how it strengthened even more in the wake of their mother’s tragic death. Now, 20 years later, Queen Elizabeth II is in her mid-90s, Prince Charles is in his 70s, and all eyes are turned increasingly toward William and Harry again. Christopher Andersen picks up where he left off, covering everything that has happened to the brothers as they have grown up, gotten married to two remarkable women, and had children --- all while facing continual waves of controversy and questions about the ways their relationship has shifted.
Gallery Books | 9781982159726
DAVA SHASTRI'S LAST DAY by Kirthana Ramisetti (Fiction)
Dava Shastri has always lived with her sterling reputation in mind. However, a brain cancer diagnosis at the age of 70 changes everything, and Dava decides to take her death into her own hands. Summoning her four adult children to her private island, she discloses shocking news: in addition to having a terminal illness, she has arranged for the news of her death to break early, so she can read her obituaries. Dava expects to read articles lauding her philanthropic work. Instead, her "death" reveals two devastating secrets, truths she thought she had buried forever. In the time she has left, Dava must come to terms with the decisions that have led to this moment --- and make peace with those closest to her before it's too late.
Grand Central Publishing | 9781538703861
HELLO, TRANSCRIBER by Hannah Morrissey (Mystery/Thriller)
Every night, police transcriber Hazel Greenlee listens as detectives divulge Black Harbor, Wisconsin’s gruesome secrets. An aspiring novelist, Hazel believes that writing a book could be her only ticket out of this frozen hellscape, but her life isn’t exactly brimming with inspiration. Until her neighbor confesses to hiding the corpse of an overdose victim. With an insider’s look at the investigation, Hazel becomes spellbound by the lead detective, Nikolai Kole, and the chilling narrative he shares with her. Through his transcription, she learns that the suspicious death is linked to Candy Man --- a drug dealer notorious for selling illegal substances to children --- and when Kole invites her on a covert operation to help take the dealer down, the promise of a story calls to her.
Minotaur Books | 9781250795953
LAST REDEMPTION: A Rick Cahill Novel by Matt Coyle (Hard-boiled Mystery/Thriller)
Rick Cahill's fiancée, Leah Landingham, is pregnant with their first child, and Rick is doing PI work that pays well and keeps him out of danger. Then a doctor gives him the bad news about the headaches he’s been suffering --- CTE, which leads to senility and early death --- a secret he keeps from Leah and his best friend, Moira MacFarlane. When Moira asks him to monitor her son, Luke --- who’s broken a restraining order to stay away from his girlfriend --- a simple surveillance explodes into greed, deceit and murder. Luke goes missing, and Rick’s dogged determination compels him to follow clues that lead to the exploration of high finance and DNA cancer research. Ultimately, Rick is forced to battle sadistic killers as he tries to find Luke and stay alive long enough to see the birth of his child.
Oceanview Publishing | 9781608094240
THE MIDNIGHT LOCK: A Lincoln Rhyme Novel by Jeffery Deaver (Thriller)
A woman wakes up in the morning to find that someone has picked her apartment’s supposedly impregnable door lock and rearranged personal items. Lincoln Rhyme and Amelia Sachs are brought in to investigate and soon learn that the sociopathic intruder, who calls himself "the Locksmith,” can break through any lock or security system ever devised. With more victims on the horizon, Rhyme, Sachs and their stable of associates must discover his true mission. Their hunt is interrupted when an internal investigation in the police force uncovers what seems to be a crucial mistake in one of Rhyme's previous cases. He is fired as a consultant for the NYPD and must risk jail if he investigates the Locksmith case in secret.
G.P. Putnam's Sons | 9780525536000
THE POSTMISTRESS OF PARIS by Meg Waite Clayton (Historical Fiction)
Wealthy, beautiful Naneé was born with a spirit of adventure. For her, learning to fly is freedom. When German tanks roll across the border and into Paris, this woman with an adorable dog and a generous heart joins the resistance. Known as the Postmistress because she delivers information to those in hiding, Naneé uses her charms and skill to house the hunted and deliver them to safety. Photographer Edouard Moss has escaped Germany with his young daughter only to be interned in a French labor camp. His life collides with Nanée’s in this sweeping tale of romance and danger set in a world aflame with personal and political passion.
Harper | 9780062946980
THE SISTERS SWEET by Elizabeth Weiss (Historical Fiction)
All Harriet Szász has ever known is life onstage with her sister, Josie. As “The Sisters Sweet,” they pose as conjoined twins in a vaudeville act conceived of by their ambitious parents, who were once themselves theatrical stars. But after Josie exposes the family’s fraud and runs away to Hollywood, Harriet must learn to live out of the spotlight --- and her sister’s shadow. As Josie’s star rises in California, the Szászes fall on hard times. Striving to keep her struggling family afloat, Harriet molds herself into the perfect daughter. She also tentatively forms her first relationships outside her family and begins to imagine a life for herself beyond the role of dutiful daughter that she has played for so long.
The Dial Press | 9781984801548
SMALL THINGS LIKE THESE by Claire Keegan (Fiction)
It is 1985 in a small Irish town. During the weeks leading up to Christmas, Bill Furlong, a coal merchant and family man, faces into his busiest season. Early one morning, while delivering an order to the local convent, Bill makes a discovery that forces him to confront both his past and the complicit silences of a town controlled by the church. Already a bestseller in France and certain to be read worldwide for generations to come, SMALL THINGS LIKE THESE is a deeply affecting and inspiring story of hope, quiet heroism and empathy from one of our most critically celebrated and iconic writers.
Grove Press | 9780802158741
VALENTINE'S WAY: My Adventurous Life and Times by Bobby Valentine and Peter Golenbock (Sports/Memoir)
From his first year in Rookie ball, when Tommy Lasorda ordered him to send a letter to the Dodgers’ starting shortstop informing him that he should retire early to make way for the young phenom, to appearing in disguise in the Mets’ dugout following an ejection, Bobby Valentine was a lightning rod for mischievous controversy, grabbing headlines wherever he went. Mavericks are seldom welcomed to upset the status quo, and Major League Baseball was no exception. In astonishing detail, Bobby Valentine reflects on the many remarkable moments that comprised his playing and managerial careers.
Permuted Press | 9781637580943
WATCH HER FALL by Erin Kelly (Psychological Thriller)
Ava Kirilova has reached the very top of her profession. After years and years of hard graft, pain and sacrifice as part of the London Russian Ballet Company, allowing nothing else to distract her, she is finally the poster girl for "Swan Lake." Even Mr K --- her father and the intense, terrifying director of the company --- can find no fault. Ava has pushed herself ahead of countless other talented, hardworking girls, and they are all watching her now. But there is someone who really wants to see Ava fall.
Mobius | 9781473680838
WISH YOU WERE HERE by Jodi Picoult (Fiction)
Diana O’Toole is an associate specialist at Sotheby’s, and her boss has hinted at a promotion if she can close a deal with a high-profile client. She’s not engaged just yet, but she knows that her boyfriend Finn, a surgical resident, is about to propose on their romantic getaway to the Galápagos. But then a virus that felt worlds away has appeared in the city, and on the eve of their departure, Finn breaks the news: It’s all hands on deck at the hospital. He has to stay behind. You should still go, he assures her. It turns out the whole island is now under quarantine, and Diana is stranded until the borders reopen. Slowly, she carves out a connection with a local family when a teenager with a secret opens up to Diana, despite her father’s suspicion of outsiders.
Ballantine Books | 9781984818416
On Sale the Week of November 29th in Paperback
November 30th
ALL THE COLORS OF NIGHT by Jayne Ann Krentz (Romantic Suspense)
North Chastain possesses a paranormal talent that gives him the ability to track down the most dangerous psychic criminals. When his father suddenly falls into a coma-like state, North is convinced it was caused by a deadly artifact that traces back to the days of a secret government program known only as the Bluestone Project. He teams up with antiques expert Sierra Raines to find the artifact, and soon they find themselves at the scene of the Incident. The town and its residents were forever changed by the disaster in the nearby Bluestone Project labs. The pair unearths shocking truths about what happened that fateful night, but someone in town knows what they’ve discovered and will do anything to make sure the secrets stay buried.
Berkley | 9781984806826
ATOMIC LOVE by Jennie Fields (Historical Fiction)
Chicago, 1950. Rosalind Porter has always defied expectations --- in her work as a physicist on the Manhattan Project, and in her passionate love affair with colleague Thomas Weaver. Five years after the end of both, her guilt over the bomb and her heartbreak over Weaver are intertwined. She has almost resigned herself to a conventional life. Then Weaver gets back in touch --- and so does the FBI. Agent Charlie Szydlo wants Roz to spy on Weaver, whom the FBI suspects of passing nuclear secrets to Russia. Despite her better instincts, Roz has never stopped loving Weaver, but something about Charlie, a former prisoner of war haunted by his past, calls out to her. As Rosalind's feelings for each man deepen, so too does the danger in which she finds herself.
G.P. Putnam's Sons | 9780593085349
CRIMSON PHOENIX: A Victoria Emerson Thriller by John Gilstrap (Political Thriller)
West Virginia Congresswoman Victoria Emerson has always put the needs of her community before the power games of Washington, D.C. Then an Army officer appears on her doorstep, deploying the code words “Crimson Phoenix” --- meaning this is not a drill. The United States is on the brink of nuclear disaster. The major will escort her to a secure bunker. She cannot bring her family. A single mother, Victoria refuses to abandon her teenage sons. Denied entry to the bunker, the family somehow survives the unthinkable. In the aftermath, the nation is in chaos. Against this total collapse, Victoria creates a new home in a small Appalachian mountain town. The community she builds around her shines like a beacon in a dark wasteland. Now she must defend it with her life --- to give hope to a new America.
Pinnacle | 9780786046645
THE DEVIL’S HAND by Jack Carr (Political Thriller)
It’s been 20 years since 9/11. Two decades since the United States was attacked on home soil and embarked on 20 years of war. The enemy has been patient, learning and adapting….and is ready to strike again. A new president offers hope to a country weary of conflict. He’s a young, popular, self-made visionary…but he’s also a man with a secret. Halfway across the globe, a regional superpower struggles with sanctions imposed by the Great Satan and her European allies, a country whose ancient religion spawned a group of ruthless assassins. Faced with internal dissent and extrajudicial targeted killings by the United States and Israel, the Supreme Leader puts a plan in motion to defeat the most powerful nation on earth.
Pocket Books | 9781982123758
DO I KNOW YOU? by Sarah Strohmeyer (Psychological Thriller)
Paperback Original
Jane Ellison is a “super recognizer” who can identify strangers by the slightest facial details. When she spies human rights activist and heiress Bella Valencia in a Boston airport, Jane is convinced she has found the person responsible for her sister Kit’s disappearance and presumed death 11 years earlier. But her attempt to detain the suspect ends with Jane herself fired and humiliated. As Bella prepares to marry Will Pease, scion of the ruthless Pease family, she grows increasingly anxious that her dire secret will be revealed. Jane is ready to risk everything for the chance to publicly expose Bella’s crimes at her upcoming celebrity wedding. But the more she digs into what happened that night, the more she questions her own assumptions.
Harper Paperbacks | 9780063091290
EVERY LAST FEAR by Alex Finlay (Psychological Thriller)
Matt Pine’s mom, dad, little brother and sister have been found dead from an apparent gas leak while vacationing in Mexico. The local police claim it was an accident, but the FBI and State Department seem far less certain. Matt’s older brother, Danny --- currently serving a life sentence for the murder of his teenage girlfriend, Charlotte --- was the subject of a viral true crime documentary suggesting that Danny was wrongfully convicted. But the night Charlotte was killed, Matt saw something that makes him believe his brother is guilty. As the deaths in Mexico appear increasingly suspicious and connected to Danny’s case, Matt must unearth the truth behind the crime that sent his brother to prison, forcing him to confront his every last fear.
Minotaur Books | 9781250817129
FOOL ME TWICE by Jeff Lindsay (Thriller)
FOOL ME TWICE opens in St. Petersburg, where thief extraordinaire Riley Wolfe steals a Faberge egg. Betrayed by the pilot he hired to help him get away, he wakes chained to a rock wall on one of the Kerguelen Islands, prisoner of a top-dog international arms dealer and a top-notch art collector. He wants Riley to steal an artwork, which happens to be “The Liberation of St. Peter,” a fresco in the Vatican. But when his captor turns him loose, he's grabbed by another arms dealer looking to do a double cross. Worse, he gives Riley a special incentive: a surveillance photograph of Monique, the love of his life and the art forger he can't pull off any heist without. Riley knows they both have only one way out.
Dutton | 9780593186381
IN THE LION’S DEN: A House of Falconer Novel by Barbara Taylor Bradford (Historical Fiction)
James Lionel Falconer has risen quickly from a mere shop worker to being the right-hand man of Henry Malvern, head of the most prestigious shipping company in London. With Malvern's daughter, Alexis, running away to the country after a terrible tragedy and refusing to return, James' ascent to head of the company seems inevitable. But even a charmed life like James' is not without its setbacks. A terrible fire threatens to end his merchant career before it's had a chance to truly begin. Mrs. Ward, James' former paramour, has a secret that could change his life forever. And his distaste for Alexis Malvern is slowly growing into feelings of quite a different sort. Can James continue to be the master of his own fate, or will all of his charm, intelligence and wit finally fail him when he has to enter the lion's den?
St. Martin’s Paperbacks | 9781250801944
JACKPOT: A Teddy Fay Novel Featuring Stone Barrington by Stuart Woods and Bryon Quertermous (Thriller/Adventure)
When Peter Barrington and Ben Bachetti come under threat while working at a film festival abroad, Teddy Fay is lured to the glittering city of Macau to resolve the problem. He'll soon come to find that world of posh casinos, luxurious developments and boundless wealth has a dark underbelly of crime and political intrigue…and that the biggest players behind the scenes may be far closer to home than anticipated. With international deals and private vendettas at stake, the villains behind the plot aren't about to let Teddy stand in their way. What they don't know is that this seemingly harmless film producer has more than a few tricks up his sleeve.
G.P. Putnam's Sons | 9780593188460
THE KAISER’S WEB by Steve Berry (Thriller)
Two candidates are vying to become Chancellor of Germany. One is a patriot having served for the past 16 years, the other a usurper, stoking the flames of nationalistic hate. Both harbor secrets, but only one knows the truth about the other. They are on a collision course, all turning on the events of one fateful day --- April 30, 1945 --- and what happened deep beneath Berlin in the Fürherbunker. Did Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun die there? Did Martin Bormann, Hitler’s close confidant, manage to escape? And, even more important, where did billions in Nazi wealth disappear to in the waning days of World War II? Former Justice Department agent Cotton Malone discovers the truth about the fates of Hitler, Braun and Bormann --- revelations that could finally expose a mystery known as the Kaiser’s web.
Minotaur Books | 9781250140371
MANTEL PIECES: Royal Bodies and Other Writing from the London Review of Books by Hilary Mantel (Essays)
In 1987, when Hilary Mantel was first published in the London Review of Books, she wrote to the editor, Karl Miller, “I have no critical training whatsoever, so I am forced to be more brisk and breezy than scholarly.” This collection of 20 reviews, essays and pieces of memoir from the next three decades tells the story of what happened next. Her subjects range far and wide: Robespierre and Danton, the Hite report, Saudi Arabia where she lived for four years in the 1980s, the Bulger case, John Osborne and the Virgin Mary. There are essays about Jane Boleyn, Charles Brandon, Christopher Marlowe and Margaret Pole, which display the astonishing insight into the Tudor mind we are familiar with from the bestselling Wolf Hall Trilogy.
Fourth Estate | 9780008430009
MOONFLOWER MURDERS by Anthony Horowitz (Mystery/Thriller)
Retired publisher Susan Ryeland is running a small hotel on a Greek island. The Trehernes come to stay and tell a story about a murder that took place on the same day and in the same hotel in which their daughter was married, which fascinates Susan and piques her editor’s instincts. One of her former writers, the late Alan Conway, author of the fictional Magpie Murders, knew the murder victim --- an advertising executive named Frank Parris --- and based the third book in his detective series on that very crime. The Trehernes’ daughter, Cecily, believes that the book proves the man convicted of Parris’ murder is innocent. When the Trehernes reveal that Cecily is now missing, Susan knows that she must find out what really happened.
Harper Perennial | 9780062955463
NANNY DEAREST by Flora Collins (Domestic Thriller)
Paperback Original
Sue Keller is lost. When her father dies suddenly, she's orphaned in her mid-20s, her mother already long gone. Then Sue meets Annie. It’s been 20 years, but Annie could never forget that face. She was Sue’s live-in nanny at their big house upstate, and she loved Sue like she was her own. Craving connection and mothering, Sue is only too eager to welcome Annie back into her life. But as they become inseparable once again, Sue starts to uncover the truth about Annie's unsettling time in the Keller house all those years ago, particularly the manner of her departure --- or dismissal. At the same time, she begins to grow increasingly alarmed for the safety of the two new charges currently in Annie's care.
Mira | 9780778311614
NEIGHBORS by Danielle Steel (Fiction)
Meredith White was one of Hollywood’s most recognizable faces. But a personal tragedy cut her acting career short and alienated her from her family. For the last 15 years, Meredith has been living alone in San Francisco with two trusted caretakers. Then, on a muggy late summer day, a massive earthquake strikes Northern California. Without a moment’s hesitation, Meredith invites her stunned and shaken neighbors into her mostly undamaged home as the recovery begins. Without the walls and privacy of their own homes, one by one, new relationships are forged. In the heart of the crisis, Meredith finds herself venturing back into the world --- and suddenly sees her isolation, her estranged family and even her acting career in a whole new light.
Dell | 9781984821393
PEOPLE FROM MY NEIGHBORHOOD: Stories written by Hiromi Kawakami, translated by Ted Goossen (Fiction/Short Stories)
Paperback Original
A bossy child who lives under a white cloth near a tree; a schoolgirl who keeps dolls' brains in a desk drawer; an old man with two shadows, one docile and one rebellious; a diplomat no one has ever seen who goes fishing at an artificial lake no one has ever heard of. These are some of the inhabitants of PEOPLE FROM MY NEIGHBORHOOD. In their lives, details of the local and everyday --- the lunch menu at a tiny drinking place called the Love, the color and shape of the roof of the tax office --- slip into accounts of duels, prophetic dreams, revolutions, and visitations from ghosts and gods. In 26 "palm of the hand" stories --- fictions small enough to fit in the palm of one's hand and brief enough to allow for dipping in and out --- Hiromi Kawakami creates a universe ruled by mystery and transformation.
Soft Skull Press | 9781593767112
THE REVOLUTION ACCORDING TO RAYMUNDO MATA by Gina Apostol (Historical Fiction)
Gina Apostol’s second novel takes the form of a memoir by one Raymundo Mata, a half-blind bookworm and revolutionary, tracing his childhood, his education in Manila, his love affairs, and his discovery of writer and fellow revolutionary Jose Rizal. Mata’s 19th-century story is complicated by present-day foreword(s), afterword(s) and footnotes from three fiercely quarrelsome and comic voices: a nationalist editor, a neo-Freudian psychoanalyst critic, and a translator, Mimi C. Magsalin. In telling the contested and fragmentary story of Mata, Apostol finds new ways to depict the violence of the Spanish colonial era, and to reimagine the nation’s great writer, Jose Rizal, who was executed by the Spanish for his revolutionary activities and is considered by many to be the father of Philippine independence.
Soho Press | 9781641293150
SHED NO TEARS by Caz Frear (Mystery)
Detective Constable Cat Kinsella and her partner, Luigi Parnell, discover a connection to a notorious criminal: serial killer Christopher Masters, who abducted and killed several women in 2012. Though the cops eventually apprehended him, his final victim, Holly Kemp, was never found and he never confessed to her murder, despite the solid eyewitness testimony against him. Now, six years later, the discovery of Holly’s remains seems to be the definitive proof needed to close the case. As Cat and Parnell look closer, they find discrepancies that raise troubling questions. But someone will do anything to keep past secrets hidden --- and as they inch closer to the truth, they may be putting themselves in jeopardy.
Harper Paperbacks | 9780062979865
SMALL MAGIC: Short Fiction, 1977-2020 by Terry Brooks (Fantasy/Short Stories)
Escape to worlds full of adventure and magic in the first-ever Terry Brooks short-story collection, featuring both new and fan-favorite stories from all three of his major literary worlds: Shannara, Magic Kingdom, and The Word and the Void. Here are heroes fighting new battles and struggling to conquer the ghosts of the past. Here are quests both small and far-reaching; heroism both intimate and vast. Here we learn of Garet Jax’s childhood, see how Allanon first located Shea Ohmsford, and follow an old wing-rider at the end of his life. Here we see Knights of the Word fighting demons within and without, and witness Ben Holiday and his daughter each trying to overcome the unique challenges that Landover offers.
Del Rey | 9780525619987
STARGAZER: A Leaphorn, Chee & Manuelito Novel by Anne Hillerman (Mystery)
What begins as a typical day for Officer Bernadette Manuelito takes an unexpected twist when she’s called to help find an old friend. Years ago, Bernie and Maya were roommates, but time and Maya’s struggles with addiction drove them apart. Now Maya’s brother asks Bernie to find out what happened to his sister. Tracing Maya’s whereabouts, Bernie learns that her old friend had confessed to the murder of her estranged husband, a prominent astronomer. But the details don’t align. Suspicious, Bernie takes a closer look at the case only to find that nothing is as it seems. Uncovering new information about the astronomer’s work leads Bernie to a remote spot on the Navajo Nation and a calculating killer.
Harper | 9780062908346
WE COULD BE HEROES by Mike Chen (Science Fiction/Adventure)
Jamie woke up in an empty apartment with no memory and only a few clues to his identity, but with the ability to read and erase other people’s memories --- a power he uses to hold up banks to buy coffee, cat food and books. Zoe is also searching for her past, and using her abilities of speed and strength…to deliver fast food. And she’ll occasionally put on a cool suit and beat up bad guys, if she feels like it. When the archrivals meet in a memory-loss support group, they realize the only way to reveal their hidden pasts might be through each other. As they uncover an ongoing threat, suddenly much more is at stake than their fragile friendship.
Mira | 9780778311317
December 1st
AT FIRST LIGHT by Barbara Nickless (Psychological Thriller/Mystery)
Paperback Original
On the muddy banks of the Calumet River, a body has been found posed next to a series of mysterious glyphs and bearing wounds from a ritualistic slaying. Chicago detective Addie Bisset knows only one man who can decipher the message left by the killer: her friend, Dr. Evan Wilding. A brilliant forensic semiotician, Evan decodes the etchings as Viking Age runes. They suggest either human sacrifice or righteous punishment. But to what god? And for what sins? Only one thing is clear from the disturbing runic riddles: there are more victims to come. As Evan races to determine the identity of the Viking Poet, he and Addie uncover the killer’s most terrifying secret yet: the motive.
Thomas & Mercer | 9781542026413
On Sale the Week of December 6th in Hardcover
December 7th
48 HOURS TO KILL by Andrew Bourelle (Thriller)
Serving a 10-year sentence in a Nevada prison for armed robbery, Ethan Lockhart hopes that he can one day become a productive, law-abiding member of society. But society has other plans for Ethan. When he’s given a 48-hour furlough to attend his sister Abby’s funeral, he learns that her body was never found --- just enough blood to declare her dead instead of missing --- and he begins to suspect that there’s more to her death than was reported. Ethan decides to use his 48-hour window to find out what happened. But to get to the bottom of the mystery, he’ll have to return to his unsavory past.
Crooked Lane Books | 9781643858401
APPARENTLY THERE WERE COMPLAINTS: A Memoir by Sharon Gless (Memoir)
Anyone who has seen Sharon Gless act in “Cagney and Lacey,” “Queer as Folk,” “Burn Notice” and countless other shows and movies knows that she’s someone who gives every role her all. She holds nothing back in APPARENTLY THERE WERE COMPLAINTS, which delves into her remarkable career and explores her complicated family, her struggles with alcoholism and her fear of romantic commitment, as well as her encounters with some of Hollywood’s biggest names. Brutally honest and incredibly relatable, Gless puts it all out on the page in the same way she has lived --- never with moderation.
Simon & Schuster | 9781501125959
THE BALLERINAS by Rachel Kapelke-Dale (Thriller)
Thirteen years ago, Delphine abandoned her prestigious soloist spot at the Paris Opera Ballet for a new life in St. Petersburg– --- taking with her a secret that could upend the lives of her best friends, fellow dancers Lindsay and Margaux. Now 36 years old, Delphine has returned to her former home and to the legendary Palais Garnier Opera House to choreograph the ballet that will kickstart the next phase of her career --- and, she hopes, finally make things right with her former friends. But Delphine quickly discovers that things have changed while she's been away...and some secrets can't stay buried forever.
St. Martin's Press | 9781250274236
BEASTS OF A LITTLE LAND by Juhea Kim (Historical Fiction)
In 1917, deep in the snowy mountains of occupied Korea, an impoverished local hunter on the brink of starvation saves a young Japanese officer from an attacking tiger. In the aftermath, a young girl named Jade is sold by her family to Miss Silver’s courtesan school, an act of desperation that will cement her place in the lowest social status. When she befriends an orphan boy named JungHo, who scrapes together a living begging on the streets of Seoul, they form a deep friendship. As they come of age, JungHo is swept up in the revolutionary fight for independence, and Jade becomes a sought-after performer with a new romantic prospect of noble birth. Soon Jade must decide whether she will risk everything for the one who would do the same for her.
Ecco | 9780063093577
BRIGHT BURNING THINGS by Lisa Harding (Fiction)
Sonya used to perform on stage. But somewhere along the way, the stage lights she lived for dimmed to black. In their absence came darkness --- blackouts, empty cupboards, hazy nights she could not remember. Haunted by her failed career and lingering trauma from her childhood, Sonya fell deep into an alcoholic abyss. What kept her from losing herself completely was her son, Tommy. But her love for Tommy rivaled her love for the bottle. Addiction amplified her fear of losing her child; every maternal misstep compelled her to drink. Tommy’s precious life was in her shaky hands. Eventually Sonya was forced to make a choice. Give up drinking or lose Tommy --- forever.
HarperVia | 9780063097148
BRYANT & MAY: LONDON BRIDGE IS FALLING DOWN: A Peculiar Crimes Unit Mystery by Christopher Fowler (Mystery)
When 91-year-old Amelia Hoffman dies in her top-floor flat on a busy London road, it’s considered an example of what has gone wrong with modern society: she slipped through the cracks in a failing system. But detectives Arthur Bryant and John May of the Peculiar Crimes Unit have their doubts. Mrs. Hoffman was once a government security expert, though no one can quite remember her. When a link emerges between the old lady and a diplomat trying to flee the country, it seems that an impossible murder has been committed. Mrs. Hoffman wasn’t the only one at risk. Bryant is convinced that other forgotten women with hidden talents are also in danger. And, curiously, they all own models of London Bridge.
Bantam | 9780593356210
THE CAT WHO SAVED BOOKS written by Sosuke Natsukawa, translated by Louise Heal Kawai (Fiction)
Bookish high school student Rintaro Natsuki is about to close the secondhand bookstore he inherited from his beloved bookworm grandfather. Then, a talking cat appears with an unusual request. The feline asks for --- or rather, demands --- the teenager’s help in saving books with him. The world is full of lonely books left unread and unloved, and the cat and Rintaro must liberate them from their neglectful owners. Their mission sends this odd couple on an amazing journey, where they enter different mazes to set books free. It all culminates in one final, unforgettable challenge --- the last maze that awaits leads Rintaro down a realm only the bravest dare enter.
HarperVia | 9780063095724
THE CHURCHILL SISTERS: The Extraordinary Lives of Winston and Clementine's Daughters by Rachel Trethewey (Biography)
Bright, attractive and well-connected, in any other family the Churchill girls --- Diana, Sarah, Marigold and Mary --- would have shone. But they were not in another family, they were Churchills, and neither they nor anyone else could ever forget it. From their father --- “the greatest Englishman” --- to their brother, golden boy Randolph, to their eccentric and exciting cousins, the Mitford Girls, they were surrounded by a clan of larger-than-life characters that often saw them overlooked. While Marigold died too young to achieve her potential, the other daughters lived lives full of passion, drama and tragedy. This intimate saga sheds light on the complex dynamics of family set against the backdrop of a tumultuous century.
St. Martin's Press | 9781250272393
THE DEATH OF MY FATHER THE POPE: A Memoir by Obed Silva (Memoir)
Weaving between the preparations for his father's funeral and memories of life on both sides of the U.S.–Mexico border, Obed Silva chronicles his father's lifelong battle with alcoholism and the havoc it wreaked on his family. Silva and his mother had come north across the border to escape his father’s violent, drunken rages. His father had followed and danced dangerously in and out of the family’s life until he was arrested and deported back to Mexico, where he drank himself to death, one Carta Blanca at a time, at the age of 48. In THE DEATH OF MY FATHER THE POPE, Silva channels the heartbreak of mourning while wrestling with the resentment and frustration caused by addiction.
MCD | 9780374539160
DEATH UNDER THE PERSEIDS: A Havana Mystery by Teresa Dovalpage (Mystery)
Cuban-born Mercedes Spivey and her American husband, Nolan, win a five-day cruise to Cuba. Although the circumstances surrounding the prize seem a little suspicious to Mercedes, Nolan’s current unemployment and their need to spice up their marriage make the decision a no-brainer. Once aboard, Mercedes is surprised to see two people she met through her ex-boyfriend, Lorenzo: former University of Havana professor Selfa Segarra and down-on-his-luck Spanish writer Javier Jurado. Even stranger: they also received a free cruise. When Selfa disappears on their first day at sea, Mercedes and Javier begin to wonder if their presence on the cruise is more than coincidence.
Soho Crime | 9781641292160
FACE THE MUSIC: A Memoir by Peter Duchin with Patricia Beard (Memoir)
The internationally famous bandleader Peter Duchin's six decades of performing have taken him to the most exclusive dance floors and concert halls in the world. He has played for presidents, kings and queens, as well as for civil rights and cultural organizations. But in 2013, Duchin suffered a stroke that left him with limited use of his left hand, severely impacting his career. Days of recuperating from his stroke --- and later from a critical case of COVID-19 --- inspired Duchin to reconsider his complicated past. More than a memoir, FACE THE MUSIC offers a window into the era of debutantes and white-tie balls, when such events made national headlines.
Doubleday | 9780385545877
A HISTORY OF WILD PLACES by Shea Ernshaw (Psychological Thriller)
Travis Wren has an unusual talent for locating missing people. Hired by families as a last resort, he requires only a single object to find the person who has vanished. When he takes on the case of Maggie St. James --- a well-known author of dark, macabre children’s books --- he’s led to a place many believed to be only a legend. Called Pastoral, this reclusive community was founded in the 1970s by like-minded people searching for a simpler way of life. By all accounts, the commune shouldn’t exist anymore…and soon after Travis stumbles upon it, he disappears. Unraveling the mystery of what happened reveals secrets that Theo, a lifelong member of Pastoral; his wife, Calla; and her sister, Bee, keep from one another.
Atria Books | 9781982164805
A KILLER BY DESIGN: Murderers, Mindhunters, and My Quest to Decipher the Criminal Mind by Ann Wolbert Burgess and Steven Matthew Constantine (True Crime/Memoir)
Lurking beneath the progressive activism and sex positivity in the 1970-80s, a dark undercurrent of violence rippled across the American landscape. This led the FBI to create a specialized team --- the “Mindhunters,” better known as the Behavioral Science Unit --- that would track down the country's most dangerous criminals. And yet narrowing down a seemingly infinite list of potential suspects seemed daunting at best and impossible at worst --- until Dr. Ann Wolbert Burgess stepped on the scene. In A KILLER BY DESIGN, Burgess reveals how her pioneering research on sexual assault and trauma caught the attention of the FBI, and steered her right into the middle of a chilling serial murder investigation in Nebraska.
Hachette Books | 9780306924866
MOTHERS, FATHERS, AND OTHERS: Essays by Siri Hustvedt (Essays)
Described as “a 21st-century Virginia Woolf” in the Literary Review (UK), Man Booker-longlisted Siri Hustvedt displays her expansive intellect and interdisciplinary knowledge in this collection that moves effortlessly between stories of her mother, grandmother and daughter to artistic mothers, Jane Austen, Emily Brontë and Lousie Bourgeois, to the broader meanings of maternal in a culture shaped by misogyny and fantasies of paternal authority. MOTHERS, FATHERS, AND OTHERS is a polymath’s journey into urgent questions about familial love and hate, human prejudice and cruelty, and the transformative power of art.
Simon & Schuster | 9781982176396
MURDER UNDER HER SKIN: A Pentecost and Parker Mystery by Stephen Spotswood (Historical Mystery)
Someone has put a blade in the back of the Amazing Tattooed Woman, and Willowjean “Will” Parker’s former knife-throwing mentor has been stitched up for the crime. To uncover the truth, Will and her boss, world-famous detective Lillian Pentecost, travel south to the circus where they find a snakepit of old grudges, small-town crime and secrets worth killing for.
Doubleday | 9780385547123
PAY OR PLAY: A Charlie Waldo Novel by Howard Michael Gould (Mystery/Thriller)
Paying a harsh self-imposed penance for a terrible misstep on a case, former LAPD superstar detective Charlie Waldo lives a life of punishing minimalism deep within the woods. However, his PI girlfriend, Lorena, keeps drawing him back to civilization. When old adversary Don Q strongarms Waldo into investigating the seemingly mundane death of a vagrant, Lorena agrees he can work under her PI license on one condition: that he help with a high-maintenance celebrity client, wildly popular courtroom TV star Judge Ida Mudge, whose new mega-deal makes her a perfect target for blackmail. Reopening the coldest of cases, a decades-old fraternity death, Waldo begins to wonder if the judge is, in fact, a murderer --- and if he’ll stay alive long enough to find out.
Severn House | 9780727850850
SEA HAWKE: An Alex Hawke Novel by Ted Bell (Thriller/Adventure)
After saving the kidnapped heir to the British throne, gentleman spy and MI6 legend Alex Hawke is due for some downtime. He has a new custom-built sailing yacht and a goal: to get closer to his son, Alexi, during an epic cruise across the seven seas. But fate and the chief of MI6, Lord David Trulove, have other plans. There’s an unholy alliance of nations that are plotting to attack Western democracies. The wily intelligence leader plans to use Hawke to drive a knife into the heart of this conspiracy. From an island base off Cuba to a secret jungle lair deep in the Amazon, on the land and the seas, the master spy and his crew of incorrigibles are in for the fight of their lives --- the fight for freedom.
Berkley | 9780593101230
SEA STATE: A Memoir by Tabitha Lasley (Memoir)
In her mid-30s and newly free from a terrible relationship, Tabitha Lasley quit her job at a London magazine, packed her bags, and poured her savings into a six-month lease on an apartment in Aberdeen, Scotland. She decided to make good on a long-deferred idea for a book about oil rigs and the men who work on them. Why oil rigs? She wanted to see what men were like with no women around. In Aberdeen, Tabitha became deeply entrenched in the world of roughnecks, a teeming subculture rich with brawls, hard labor and competition. The longer she stayed, the more she found that her presence had a destabilizing effect on the men --- and her.
Ecco | 9780063030831
SHARPE'S ASSASSIN by Bernard Cornwell (Historical Fiction)
Bernard Cornwell's iconic hero, Richard Sharpe, is dispatched to a new battleground: the maze of Paris streets, where lines blur between friend and foe. And in search of a spy, he will have to defeat a lethal assassin determined to kill his target...or die trying.
Harper | 9780062563262
TELL ME HOW TO BE by Neel Patel (Fiction)
As the one-year anniversary of her husband’s death approaches, Renu Amin is binge-watching soap operas and simmering with old resentments. She can’t stop wondering if, 35 years ago, she chose the wrong life. In Los Angeles, her son, Akash, has everything he ever wanted, but as he tries to kickstart his songwriting career and commit to his boyfriend, he is haunted by the painful memories he fled a decade ago. When his mother tells him she is selling the family home, Akash returns to Illinois, hoping to finally say goodbye and move on. But as their pasts catch up to them, Renu and Akash must decide between the lives they left behind and the ones they’ve since created, between making each other happy and setting themselves free.
Flatiron Books | 9781250184979
THEY CAN'T TAKE YOUR NAME by Robert Justice (Thriller)
Langston Brown is running out of time and options for clearing his name and escaping death row. Wrongfully convicted of the gruesome Mother's Day Massacre, he prepares to face his death. His final hope for salvation lies with his daughter, Liza, an artist who dreamed of a life of music and song but left the prestigious Juilliard School to pursue a law degree with the intention of clearing her father's name. Just as she nears success, it's announced that Langston will be put to death in 30 days. In a desperate bid to find freedom for her father, Liza enlists the help of Eli Stone, a jazz club owner. Devastated by the tragic loss of his wife, Eli is trying to find solace by reviving his club…while also wrestling with the longing to join her in death.
Crooked Lane Books | 9781643858425
W. E. B. GRIFFIN ROGUE ASSET: A Presidential Agent Novel by Brian Andrews and Jeffrey Wilson (Thriller/Adventure)
Secretary of State Frank Malone has been kidnapped from his Cairo hotel --- his security detail wiped out. President Natalie Cohen is left with several unacceptable options. It's time to think outside the box, and that can only mean one thing: the revival of the Presidential Agent program. Cohen calls for Charley Castillo to come out of retirement to direct a new Presidential Agent, one Captain P. K. "Pick" McCoy, USMC. Charley may be too old to kick down doors and take names, but Killer McCoy is just the man to get the job done. Together, they will track the kidnapped secretary from Cairo to sub-Saharan Africa. The only problem is that one man can't hope to win against an army of terrorists. Good thing there are two of them.
G.P. Putnam's Sons | 9780399171215
WHITE ON WHITE by Aysegül Savas (Fiction)
A student moves to the city to research Gothic nudes, renting an apartment from a painter, Agnes, who lives in another town with her husband. One day, Agnes arrives in the city and settles into the upstairs studio. In their meetings, Agnes tells stories of her youth, her family, her marriage and ideas for her art --- which is always just about to be created. As the months pass, it becomes clear that Agnes might not have a place to return to. The student is increasingly aware of Agnes' disintegration. Her stories are frenetic; her art scattered and unfinished, white paint on a white canvas. What emerges is the menacing sense that every life is always at the edge of disaster, no matter its seeming stability.
Riverhead Books | 9780593330517
THE WITCHING TREE: A Natalie Lockhart Novel by Alice Blanchard (Mystery)
Detective Natalie Lockhart gained unwanted notoriety when she and her family became front and center of two sensational murder cases. Burned out and always looking over her shoulder, Natalie desperately thinks that quitting the police force is her only option left. All that changes when a beloved resident --- a practicing Wiccan and founder of the town’s oldest coven --- is killed in a fashion more twisted and shocking than Natalie has ever seen before. Natalie has no choice but to help solve the case along with Detective Luke Pittman, her boss and the old childhood friend she cannot admit she loves, even to herself. There is a silent, malignant presence in Burning Lake that will not rest. And what happens next will shock the whole town, and Natalie, to the core.
Minotaur Books | 9781250783042
THE WOMEN I LOVE written by Francesco Pacifico, translated by Elizabeth Harris (Fiction)
Marcello, an editor and poet, is on the brink of his 40s. Like everyone in his life, including his sister-in-law, he’s writing a novel. This novel. This novel will be about women. Love. Growing older. Maybe even taking responsibility. But unfortunately for Marcello, the women in his life resist definition. They flit and flicker constantly between archetype and actuality: sirens and saviors, subordinates and savants, vixens and villains. So Marcello cannot write plainly about love. Instead, he tries to write into the complexities of his many relationships: Eleonora, the junior editor, his former protegeé and sometime lover; Barbara, his claustrophobic girlfriend; his estranged gay sister; his elegant mother.
Farrar, Straus and Giroux | 9780374292720
On Sale the Week of December 6th in Paperback
December 7th
BOY UNDERGROUND by Catherine Ryan Hyde (Historical Fiction)
Paperback Original
Steven Katz is the son of prosperous landowners in rural California. Although his parents don’t approve, he has found true friends in Nick, Suki and Ollie, sons of field workers, and is beginning to acknowledge that his feelings for Nick amount to more than friendship. When the bombing of Pearl Harbor draws the US into World War II, Suki and his family are forced to leave their home for the internment camp at Manzanar. Ollie enlists in the army and ships out. And Nick must flee. Betrayed by his own father and accused of a crime he didn’t commit, he turns to Steven for help. Hiding Nick in a root cellar on his family’s farm, Steven acts as Nick’s protector and lifeline to the outside world. After Nick unexpectedly disappears one day, Steven’s life focus is to find him.
Lake Union Publishing | 9781542021555
DEATH AND THE MAIDEN by Ariana Franklin and Samantha Norman (Historical Mystery)
England, 1191. After the death of her friend and patron, King Henry II, Adelia Aguilar, England’s vaunted Mistress of the Art of Death, is living comfortably in retirement and training her daughter, Allie, to carry on her craft. Allie is already a skilled healer, with a particular gift for treating animals. When a friend in Cambridgeshire falls ill, Allie is sent to Ely, where her path will cross with Lord Peverill, a young aristocrat who would be a most suitable match for her. A village girl has disappeared --- and she’s not the first. Over the past few months, several girls from the villages surrounding Ely have vanished. When the body of one of the missing is discovered, Allie manages to examine the remains before burial. The results lead her to suspect that a monstrous predator is on the loose.
William Morrow Paperbacks | 9780062562364
EDDIE’S BOY: A Butcher's Boy Novel by Thomas Perry (Thriller)
Michael Shaeffer is a retired American businessman, living peacefully in England with his aristocratic wife. But her annual summer party brings strangers to their house, and with them, an attempt on Michael’s life. He is immediately thrust into action, luring his lethal pursuers to Australia before venturing into the lion’s den --- the States --- to figure out why the mafia is after him again, and how to stop them. EDDIE'S BOY jumps between Michael’s current predicament and the past, between the skill set he now ruthlessly and successfully employs and the training that made him what he is.
Mysterious Press | 9780802157782
THE GREAT GATZ by Lauren Baratz-Logsted and Jackie Logsted (Romantic Comedy)
Paperback Original
The Man is happy. The Woman is happy. That means Gatz is happy. He'd like to forget about the trouble he made to get them back together and focus on the future. The Woman and New Man are about to get married, after all. But when The Woman loses her job because of some bad press about the two of them, her confidence is broken and she can't help but feel resentful towards New Man when his own career stays intact. The Man is doing better, too, thanks to the New Woman in his life, who just so happens to be a writer as well. But two authors in the same relationship can sometimes be one too many, and they find themselves getting quite competitive with each other.
Berkley | 9780593199602
THE LIES YOU TOLD by Harriet Tyce (Psychological Thriller)
When Sadie Roper moves back to London, she's determined to pick up the pieces of her shattered life. First, she needs to get her daughter settled into a new school. Next, she's going to get back the high-flying criminal barrister career she sacrificed for marriage 10 years earlier. But nothing goes quite as planned. The school is not very welcoming to newcomers, her daughter hasn't made any friends yet, and the other mothers are as fiercely competitive as their children. However, the tide starts to turn as Sadie begins to work on a scandalous, high-profile case and is befriended by Liza, queen of the school moms. Soon Sadie and her family start to thrive…but does this close new friendship prevent her from seeing the truth?
Grand Central Publishing | 9781538762769
LUCKY by Marissa Stapley (Fiction)
Paperback Original
Lucky Armstrong is a tough, talented grifter who has just pulled off a million-dollar heist with her boyfriend, Cary. She’s ready to start a brand-new life, with a new identity, when things go sideways. Lucky finds herself alone for the first time, navigating the world without the help of either her father or her boyfriend, the two figures from whom she’s learned the art of the scam. When she discovers that a lottery ticket she bought on a whim is worth millions, her elation is tempered by one big problem: cashing in the winning ticket means she’ll be arrested for her crimes. As Lucky tries to avoid capture and make a future for herself, she must confront her past.
Simon & Schuster | 9781668002452
MOZART: The Reign of Love by Jan Swafford (Biography)
At the earliest ages, it was apparent that Wolfgang Mozart’s singular imagination was at work in every direction. He hated to be bored or idle, and through his life he responded to these threats with a repertoire of antidotes mental and physical. Whether in his rabidly obscene mode or not, Mozart was always hilarious. He went at every piece of his life, and perhaps most notably his social life, with tremendous gusto. His circle of friends and patrons was wide, encompassing anyone who appealed to his boundless appetites for music and all things pleasurable and fun. MOZART is the complete exhumation of a genius in his life and ours: a man who would enrich the world with his talent for centuries to come and who would immeasurably shape classical music.
Harper Perennial | 9780062433619
NO TIME LIKE THE FUTURE: An Optimist Considers Mortality by Michael J. Fox (Memoir)
The entire world knows Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly, the teenage sidekick of Doc Brown in Back to the Future; as Alex P. Keaton in “Family Ties”; as Mike Flaherty in “Spin City”; and through numerous other movie roles and guest appearances on shows such as “The Good Wife” and “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” Diagnosed at age 29, Fox is equally engaged in Parkinson’s advocacy work, raising global awareness of the disease and helping find a cure through The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research. In NO TIME LIKE THE FUTURE, Michael shares personal stories and observations about illness and health, aging, the strength of family and friends, and how our perceptions about time affect the way we approach mortality.
Flatiron Books | 9781250265630
OPPO by Tom Rosenstiel (Political Thriller)
It’s presidential primary season in Washington, DC, and both parties are on edge. At campaign rallies for all the candidates around the country, there are disturbing incidents of violence and protest and shocking acts of civil disobedience. When Wendy Upton, the highly respected centrist senator, receives an anonymous threat that could destroy her promising career, she hires Peter Rena to investigate her past and figure out which side is threatening her and what they are threatening her with. As Rena digs through the senator’s seemingly squeaky-clean past, he must walk the tightrope between two parties at war with each other and with themselves, an electorate that is as restive as it has ever been, and a political culture that is as much driven by money as it is by ideology.
Ecco | 9780062892614
PIANOS AND FLOWERS: Brief Encounters of the Romantic Kind by Alexander McCall Smith (Historical Fiction/Short Stories)
Pictures capture moments in time, presenting the viewer with a window into another life. But a picture can go only so far. Who are the people in the image? What are their fears? What are their dreams? The 14 captivating tales in Alexander McCall Smith's collection are all inspired by photos from the Times of London archive. A young woman finds unexpected love while perusing Egyptian antiquities. A family is forever fractured when war comes to Penang, in colonial Malaysia. Iron Jelloid tablets help to reveal a young man’s inner strength. And twin sisters discover that it’s never too late to forge a new path --- even when standing at the altar.
Anchor | 9780593310960
RHAPSODY by Mitchell James Kaplan (Historical Fiction)
When Katharine “Kay” Swift --- the restless but loyal society wife of wealthy banker James Warburg and a serious pianist who longs for recognition --- attends a performance of Rhapsody in Blue by a brilliant, elusive young musical genius named George Gershwin, her world is turned upside down. Transfixed, she’s helpless to resist the magnetic pull of George’s talent, charm and swagger. Their 10-year love affair, complicated by her conflicted loyalty to her husband and the twists and turns of her own musical career, ends only with George’s death from a brain tumor at the age of 38.
Gallery Books | 9781982104016
SHADOWS OF SWANFORD ABBEY by Julie Klassen (Historical Romance/Mystery)
Paperback Original
When Miss Rebecca Lane returns to her home village after a few years away, her brother begs for a favor: go to nearby Swanford Abbey and deliver his manuscript to an author staying there who could help him get published. Once there, Rebecca begins noticing strange things, including a figure in a hooded black gown gliding silently through the abbey's cloisters. She then encounters Sir Frederick, who long ago broke her heart. When the famous author is found murdered in the abbey, Sir Frederick quickly discovers that several people held grudges against the man, including Miss Lane and her brother. Haunted by a painful betrayal in his past, Sir Frederick is torn between his growing feelings for Rebecca and his pursuit of the truth. For Miss Lane is clearly hiding something.
Bethany House Publishers | 9780764234248
SOPHOMORES by Sean Desmond (Fiction)
With their sterile Dallas community a far cry from the Irish-American Bronx of their youth, Pat and Anne Malone have reached a breaking point. Pat has fallen into his drinking, using the burn of alcohol to hide the mental and physical toll of his recent MS diagnosis. Meanwhlie, Anne, his devoutly Catholic wife, has been selected as a juror for a highly publicized attempted murder trial. For the first time, the questions she's buried her entire life --- about God and about men in power --- begin to break through. Together, Pat and Anne try to raise their only son, Daniel, a bright but unmotivated college sophomore who is shocked into actual learning by his enigmatic teacher, Mr. Oglesby. For once, Dan is unable to fly under the radar and must ask himself what he might want to make of his life.
G.P. Putnam's Sons | 9780593084854
THE SYSTEM by Ryan Gattis (Thriller)
On December 6, 1993, a drug dealer called Scrappy is shot and left for dead on the lawn outside her mother’s house. Augie, a heroin addict, witnesses the whole thing --- before he steals all the drugs on her person, as well as the gun that was dropped at the scene. When Augie gets busted, he names local gang members Wizard and Dreamer the shooters. But only one of them is guilty. A search of Wizard and Dreamer’s premises uncovers the gun that was used in the shooting, and a warrant goes out for their arrest. They know it’s a frame-up, but the word from the gang is to keep their mouths shut and face the charges. With these two off the streets, Dreamer’s friend Little is given one job: discover how the gun got moved, and why.
Picador | 9781250800367
TRUE CRIME STORY by Joseph Knox (Mystery/Thriller)
Paperback Original
In 2011, Zoe Nolan walked out of her dormitory in Manchester and was never seen or heard from again. Her case went cold. Her story was sad, certainly, but hardly sensational, crime writer Joseph Knox thought. He wouldn't have given her any more thought were it not for his friend, Evelyn Mitchell. Another writer struggling to come up with a new idea, Evelyn was wondering just what happened to all the girls who go missing. What happened to the Zoe Nolans of the world? Evelyn began investigating herself, interviewing Zoe's family and friends, and emailing Joseph with chapters of the book she was writing with her findings. Uneasy with the corkscrew twists and turns, Joseph Knox embedded himself in the case, ultimately discovering a truth more tragic and shocking than he could have possibly imagined.
Sourcebooks Landmark | 9781728245867
WHERE YOU COME FROM written by Saša Stanišic, translated by Damion Searls (Fiction)
Paperback Original
In August 1992, a boy and his mother flee the war in Yugoslavia and arrive in Germany. Six months later, the boy’s father joins them, bringing a brown suitcase, insomnia and a scar on his thigh. Saša Stanišic’s WHERE YOU COME FROM is a novel about this family, whose world is uprooted and remade by war: their history, their life before the conflict, and the years that followed their escape as they created a new life in a new country.
Tin House Books | 9781951142759
THE WOMEN OF PEARL ISLAND by Polly Crosby (Fiction)
Paperback Original
When Tartelin answers an ad for a personal assistant, she doesn't know what to expect from her new employer, Marianne, an eccentric elderly woman. Marianne lives on a remote island that her family has owned for generations, and for decades her only companions have been butterflies and tightly held memories of her family. But there are some memories Marianne would rather forget, such as when the island was commandeered by the British government during WWII. Now, if Marianne can trust Tartelin with her family's story, she finally might be able to face the long-buried secrets of her past that have kept her isolated for far too long.
Park Row | 9780778311140
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