October 18, 2022

October 18, 2022

In this newsletter, you will find books releasing the weeks of October 17th and October 24th 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 Paperback Spotlight featuring THE SANTA SUIT by Mary Kay Andrews. When newly divorced Ivy Perkins buys an old farmhouse, she is looking for a change in her life. Among the possessions left behind is a Santa suit that is beautifully made and decades old. In the pocket of the suit is a note from a little girl who has one Christmas wish: that her father return home from the war. The note sets Ivy off on a mission where she might find more than she ever thought possible.

We hosted this month’s “Bookaccino Live” preview event last Wednesday afternoon. Carol talked about 29 books releasing between now and November 1st, along with five from December, that we wanted to get on your radar. You can watch it here and see a list of the featured titles here.

Upcoming Virtual Book and Author Events

As many book and author events are still 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, October 19th 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 Lisa Jewell, whose most recent thriller is THE FAMILY REMAINS, a stand-alone sequel to THE FAMILY UPSTAIRS.

Wednesday, October 19th at 7pm ET: The Poisoned Pen Bookstore: Andy Davidson will be in conversation with special guest host Jason Rekulak about his new horror novel, THE HOLLOW KIND, which is about the spectacular decline of the Redfern family, haunted by an ancient evil.

Friday, October 21st at 6pm ET: Random House: Join Random House for a special virtual event featuring Dani Shapiro. She will be in conversation with Katie Couric about her highly anticipated new novel, SIGNAL FIRES, her first work of fiction in 15 years.

Monday, October 24th at 7pm ET: Murder By The Book: Wanda M. Morris will talk about her new novel, ANYWHERE YOU RUN, with Mystery & Thriller Maven’s Sara DiVello. After the murder of a white man in Jim Crow Mississippi, two Black sisters run away to different parts of the country. But can they escape the secrets they left behind?

Monday, October 24th at 7pm ET: Random House: Join Random House for a conversation with George R. R. Martin as he discusses all things Targaryen. The program will feature a moderated discussion with George; a special video about the illustrations featured in THE RISE OF THE DRAGON; an audience Q&A; and videos from HBO’s “House of the Dragon.”

Tuesday, October 25th at 1pm ET: Simon & Schuster's Book Club Favorites: Jess Kidd will join members of the Simon & Schuster team to discuss her new novel, THE NIGHT SHIP, which is October's pick for S&S's Book Club Favorites and this month's Barnes & Noble Book Club selection.

This Week's Bonus News:
Our Paperback Spotlight Featuring
THE SANTA SUIT by Mary Kay Andrews

On Sale the Week of October 17th in Hardcover

October 18th

THE ABYSS: Nuclear Crisis Cuba 1962 by Max Hastings (History)
In THE ABYSS, Max Hastings turns his focus to one of the most terrifying events of the mid-20th century --- the 13 days in October 1962 when the world stood on the brink of nuclear war. Hastings looks at the conflict with fresh eyes, focusing on the people at the heart of the crisis --- American President John F. Kennedy, Soviet First Secretary Nikita Khrushchev, Cuban Prime Minister Fidel Castro, and a host of their advisors. As the action moves back and forth from Moscow to Washington, DC, to Havana, Hastings seeks to explain, as much as to describe, the attitudes and conduct of the Soviets, Cubans and Americans, and to recreate the tension and heightened fears of countless innocent bystanders whose lives hung in the balance.
Harper | 9780062980137

AND THERE WAS LIGHT: Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle by Jon Meacham (Biography)
Hated and hailed, excoriated and revered, Abraham Lincoln was at the pinnacle of American power when implacable secessionists gave no quarter in a clash of visions bound up with money, race, identity and faith. In him we can see the possibilities of the presidency as well as its limitations. At once familiar and elusive, Lincoln tends to be seen as the greatest of American presidents --- a remote icon --- or as a politician driven more by calculation than by conviction. This illuminating new portrait gives us a very human Lincoln --- an imperfect man whose moral antislavery commitment began as he grew up in an antislavery Baptist community; who insisted that slavery was a moral evil; and who sought, as he put it, to do right as God gave him to see the right.
Random House | 9780553393965

THE BOYS FROM BILOXI by John Grisham (Legal Thriller)
For most of the last hundred years, Biloxi was known for its beaches, resorts and seafood industry. But it had a darker side. It was also notorious for corruption and vice, everything from gambling, prostitution, bootleg liquor and drugs to contract killings. The vice was controlled by a small cabal of mobsters, many of them rumored to be members of the Dixie Mafia. Keith Rudy and Hugh Malco grew up in Biloxi in the ’60s and were childhood friends, as well as Little League all-stars. But as teenagers, their lives took them in different directions. Keith’s father became a legendary prosecutor, determined to “clean up the Coast.” Hugh’s father became the “Boss” of Biloxi’s criminal underground. The two families were headed for a showdown, one that would happen in a courtroom.
Doubleday | 9780385548922

THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT by Debbie Macomber (Romance)
Peter Armstrong and Hank Colfax are best friends, but their lives couldn’t be more different. Peter is the local pastor who is dedicated to his community --- spending time visiting the flock, attending meetings, and, with the holiday season approaching, preparing for the Christmas service and live nativity. As a bartender, Hank serves a much different customer base at his family-owned tavern, including a handful of lonely regulars and the local biker gang. When Peter scoffs that Hank has it easy compared to him, the two decide to switch jobs until Christmas Eve. To their surprise, the responsibilities of a bartender and a pastor are similar, but taking on the other’s work is more difficult than either Peter or Hank expected.
Ballantine Books | 9780593500101

COMFORT BAKING: Feel-Good Food to Savor and Share by Stephanie Wise (Cooking)
Baking has become more than a hobby or a means to a delicious end. Now more than ever, it also has become a source of solace, relief and relaxation. COMFORT BAKING focuses on easy-to-follow recipes that make people feel good from the inside out. For anyone who is looking for a moment in the kitchen as a time to create, worship, relax or prepare a recipe for a friend in need, this is your guidebook. In addition to over 100 recipes that exude comfort from beginning to end, baker Stephanie Wise includes plenty of helpful tips along the way to make the process as simple and enjoyable as possible. Whether you're preparing a quiche or whipping up a late-night batch of cookies, the recipes in this book are guaranteed to bring you and the people you share your creations with comfort.
Herald Press | 9781513810294

DEMON COPPERHEAD by Barbara Kingsolver (Fiction)
DEMON COPPERHEAD is set in the mountains of southern Appalachia. It’s the story of a boy born to a teenaged single mother in a single-wide trailer, with no assets beyond his dead father’s good looks and copper-colored hair, a caustic wit and a fierce talent for survival. In a plot that never pauses for breath, relayed in his own unsparing voice, he braves the modern perils of foster care, child labor, derelict schools, athletic success, addiction, disastrous loves and crushing losses. Through all of it, he reckons with his own invisibility in a popular culture where even the superheroes have abandoned rural people in favor of cities.
Harper | 9780063251922

DUPLICITY: A Brick Kavanagh Mystery by Shawn Wilson (Mystery)
After the trauma of his last case, and after three months spent recovering in Ireland, life is looking up for newly retired homicide detective Brian (Brick) Kavanagh. Back home in Washington, D.C., a new job shows promise when he’s asked to train criminology students in cold case techniques. Then he’s off to a whirlwind weekend in Chicago with Nora, an Aer Lingus flight attendant he’d met in Ireland. There he receives shocking news that his former partner’s wife and twin infants have been kidnapped. Brick rushes to D.C. to support Ron, the man who’s always had his back. But as days pass, Brick questions how well he really knows this man.
Oceanview Publishing | 9781608095100

THE EXTRAORDINARY LIFE OF AN ORDINARY MAN: A Memoir written by Paul Newman, edited by David Rosenthal (Memoir)
In 1986, Paul Newman and his closest friend, screenwriter Stewart Stern, began an extraordinary project. Stuart was to compile an oral history, to have Newman’s family and friends and those who worked closely with him, talk about the actor’s life. And then Newman would work with Stewart and give his side of the story. The only stipulation was that anyone who spoke on the record had to be completely honest. That same stipulation applied to Newman himself. The project lasted five years. The result is an extraordinary memoir, culled from thousands of pages of transcripts. Newman’s voice is powerful, sometimes funny, sometimes painful, always meeting that high standard of searing honesty.
Knopf | 9780593534502

THE FAMILY GAME by Catherine Steadman (Psychological Thriller)
Harriet Reed, a novelist on the brink of literary stardom, is newly engaged to Edward Holbeck, the heir of an extremely powerful family. And even though Edward has long tried to sever ties with them, news of the couple’s marital bliss has the Holbecks inching back into their lives. As Harriet is drawn into their lavish world, the family seems perfectly welcoming. So when Edward’s father, Robert, hands Harriet a tape of a book he’s been working on, she is desperate to listen. But as she presses play, it’s clear that this isn’t just a novel. It’s a confession. A confession to a grisly crime. A murder. And, suddenly, the game is in motion. Feeling isolated and confused, Harriet must work out if this is part of a plan to test her loyalty. Or something far darker.
Ballantine Books | 9780593158067

A HEART FULL OF HEADSTONES: An Inspector Rebus Novel by Ian Rankin (Mystery)
John Rebus stands accused: on trial for a crime that could put him behind bars for the rest of his life. It’s not the first time the legendary detective has taken the law into his own hands, though it might be the last. But what drove a good man to cross the line? Detective Inspector Siobhan Clarke may well find out. Clarke is tasked with the city’s most explosive case in years: an infamous cop, at the center of decades of misconduct, has gone missing. Finding him will expose not only her superiors, but her mentor John Rebus. And Rebus himself may not have her own interests at heart, as the repayment of a past debt places him in the crosshairs of both crime lords and his police brethren.
Little, Brown and Company | 9780316473637

THE LAST CHAIRLIFT by John Irving (Fiction)
In Aspen, Colorado, in 1941, Rachel Brewster is a slalom skier at the National Downhill and Slalom Championships. Little Ray, as she is called, finishes nowhere near the podium, but she manages to get pregnant. Back home, in New England, Little Ray becomes a ski instructor. Her son, Adam, grows up in a family that defies conventions and evades questions concerning the eventful past. Years later, looking for answers, Adam will go to Aspen. In the Hotel Jerome, where he was conceived, Adam will meet some ghosts. In THE LAST CHAIRLIFT, they aren’t the first or the last ghosts he sees.
Simon & Schuster | 9781501189272

LAVENDER HOUSE by Lev AC Rosen (Historical Mystery)
Lavender House, 1952: the family seat of recently deceased matriarch Irene Lamontaine, head of the famous Lamontaine soap empire. Irene’s recipes for her signature scents are a well-guarded secret, but it's not the only one behind these gates. This estate offers a unique freedom, where none of the residents or staff hide who they are. But to keep their secret, they've needed to keep others out. And now they're worried they're keeping a murderer in. Irene’s widow hires Evander Mills to uncover the truth behind her mysterious death. Andy, recently fired from the San Francisco police after being caught in a raid on a gay bar, is happy to accept. However, he quickly finds himself a pawn in a family game of old money, subterfuge and jealousy --- and Irene’s death is only the beginning.
Forge Books | 9781250834225

LIBERATION DAY: Stories by George Saunders (Fiction/Short Stories)
In his first collection of short stories since TENTH OF DECEMBER, George Saunders explores ideas of power, ethics and justice and cuts to the very heart of what it means to live in community with our fellow humans. “Love Letter” is a tender missive from grandfather to grandson in the midst of a dystopian political situation in the (not-too-distant, all-too-believable) future. “Ghoul” is set in a Hell-themed section of an underground amusement park and follows the exploits of a lonely, morally complex character who comes to question everything he takes for granted about his reality. And “My House” --- in a mere seven pages --- comes to terms with the haunting nature of unfulfilled dreams and the inevitability of decay.
Random House | 9780525509592

NEWSROOM CONFIDENTIAL: Lessons (and Worries) from an Ink-Stained Life by Margaret Sullivan (Memoir)
In NEWSROOM CONFIDENTIAL, Margaret Sullivan chronicles her years in the trenches battling sexism and throwing elbows in a highly competitive newsroom. In 2012, Sullivan was appointed the public editor of the New York Times, the first woman to hold that important role. She was in the unique position of acting on behalf of readers to weigh the actions and reporting of the paper's staff, parsing potential lapses in judgment, unethical practices and thorny journalistic issues. Sullivan recounts how she navigated the paper’s controversies, from Hillary Clinton's emails to the need for greater diversity in the newsroom. In 2016, Sullivan left for the Washington Post, where she had a front-row seat to the rise of Donald Trump in American media and politics.
St. Martin's Press | 9781250281906

POSTER GIRL by Veronica Roth (Dystopian Mystery)
What’s right is right. Sonya Kantor knows this slogan --- she lived by it for most of her life. For decades, everyone in the Seattle-Portland megalopolis lived under it, as well as constant surveillance in the form of the Insight, an ocular implant that tracked every word and every action, rewarding or punishing by a rigid moral code set forth by the Delegation. Then there was a revolution. The Delegation fell. Its most valuable members were locked in the Aperture, a prison on the outskirts of the city. And everyone else went on with their lives. Sonya, former poster girl for the Delegation, has been imprisoned for 10 years when an old enemy comes to her with a deal: find a missing girl who was stolen from her parents by the old regime and earn her freedom.
William Morrow | 9780358164098

ROBERT LUDLUM'S THE BLACKBRIAR GENESIS by Simon Gervais (Thriller/Adventure)
A car explodes along a quiet Prague side street. Among the dead is an undercover Treadstone agent. It's not unusual for such men to meet their fates on an operation, but in this case there's one catch. None of his superiors know what he was doing there. Two Blackbriar operatives, Helen Jouvert and Donovan Wade, are sent to investigate. Their search for answers will take them deeper into the world of conspiracy and fake news than they ever expected. Treadstone and Blackbriar may be two sides of the same coin, intelligence and counterintelligence, but they have one thing in common: answers can be the deadliest commodity of all.
G.P. Putnam's Sons | 9780593419977

SEVEN EMPTY HOUSES written by Samanta Schweblin, translated by Megan McDowell (Fiction/Short Stories)
The seven houses in these seven stories are strange. A person is missing, or a truth, or memory; some rooms are enticing, some unmoored, others empty. But in Samanta Schweblin's tense, visionary tales, something always creeps back inside: a ghost, a fight, trespassers, a list of things to do before you die, a child's first encounter with darkness or the fallibility of parents. In each story, twists and turns will unnerve and surprise. Schweblin never takes the expected path and instead digs under the skin, revealing surreal truths about our sense of home, of belonging, and of the fragility of our connections with others.
Riverhead Books | 9780525541394

SIGNAL FIRES by Dani Shapiro (Fiction)
On a summer night in 1985, three teenagers have been drinking. One of them gets behind the wheel of a car, and, in an instant, everything on Division Street changes. Each of their lives, and that of Ben Wilf, a young doctor who arrives on the scene, is shattered. For the Wilf family, the circumstances of that fatal accident will become the deepest kind of secret, one so dangerous it can never be spoken. On Division Street, time has moved on. When the Shenkmans arrive --- a young couple expecting a baby boy --- it is as if the accident never happened. But when Waldo, the Shenkmans’ brilliant, lonely son who marvels at the beauty of the world and has a native ability to find connections in everything, befriends Dr. Wilf, past events come hurtling back in ways no one ever could have foreseen.
Knopf | 9780593534724

SINGER DISTANCE by Ethan Chatagnier (Literary Science Fiction/Mystery)
In December 1960, Crystal Singer, her boyfriend Rick and three other MIT grad students take a cross-country road trip from Boston to Arizona to paint a message in the desert. Mars has been silent for 30 years, since the last time Earth solved one of the mathematical proofs the Martian civilization carved onto its surface. The latest proof, which seems to assert contradictory truths about distance, has resisted human understanding for decades. Crystal thinks she’s solved it, and Rick is intent on putting her answer to the test --- if he can keep her from cracking under the pressure on the way. But Crystal’s disappearance after the experiment will set him on a different path than he expected, forever changing the distance between them.
Tin House Books | 9781953534439

WHEN WE HAD WINGS by Ariel Lawhon, Kristina McMorris and Susan Meissner (Historical Fiction)
The Philippines, 1941. When U.S. Navy nurse Eleanor Lindstrom, U.S. Army nurse Penny Franklin and Filipina nurse Lita Capel forge a friendship at the Army Navy Club in Manila, they believe they’re living a paradise assignment. All three are seeking a way to escape their pasts, but soon the beauty and promise of their surroundings give way to the heavy mantle of war. Caught in the crosshairs of a fight between the U.S. military and the Imperial Japanese Army for control of the Philippine Islands, the nurses are forced to serve under combat conditions and, ultimately, endure captivity as the first female prisoners of the Second World War. As their resiliency is tested, they strive to keep their hope --- and their fellow inmates --- alive, though not without great cost.
Harper Muse | 9780785253341

On Sale the Week of October 17th in Paperback

October 18th

AMERICAN COMICS: A History by Jeremy Dauber (Popular Culture/History)
From our multiplexes, where Marvel and DC movies reign supreme, to our television screens, where comics-based shows like "The Walking Dead" have become among the most popular in cable history, to convention halls and bestseller lists, comics shape American culture, in ways high and low, superficial and deeply profound. In AMERICAN COMICS, Columbia professor Jeremy Dauber takes readers through their incredible but little-known history. His story shows not only how comics have changed over the decades but how American politics and culture have changed them. Throughout, he describes the origins of beloved comics, champions neglected masterpieces, and argues that we can understand how America sees itself through whose stories comics tell.
W. W. Norton & Company | 9781324036098

THE ANSWER IS…: Reflections on My Life by Alex Trebek (Autobiography)
When he debuted as the host of "Jeopardy!" in 1984, Alex Trebek became something like a family member to millions of television viewers, bringing entertainment and education into their homes five nights a week. In 2019, he made the stunning announcement that he had been diagnosed with Stage IV pancreatic cancer. What followed was an incredible outpouring of love and kindness. For more than three decades, Trebek had resisted countless appeals to write a book about his life. Yet he was moved so much by all the goodwill, he felt compelled to finally share his story. THE ANSWER IS... combines illuminating personal anecdotes with Trebek’s thoughts on a range of topics, including marriage, parenthood, education, success, spirituality and philanthropy.
Simon & Schuster | 9781982158002

BAGGAGE: Tales from a Fully Packed Life by Alan Cumming (Memoir)
Much of BAGGAGE chronicles my life in Hollywood and how, since I recovered from a nervous breakdown at 28, work has repeatedly whisked me away from personal calamities to sets and stages around the world. It is also about marriage(s): starting with the break-up of my first (to a woman) and ending with the ascension to my second (to a man) with many kissed toads in between! But in everything, each failed relationship or encounter with a legend (Liza! X-Men! Gore Vidal! Kubrick! Spice Girls!), in every bad decision or moment of sensual joy I have endeavored to show what I have learned and how I’ve become who I am today: a happy, flawed, vulnerable, fearless middle-aged man, with a lot of baggage.
Dey Street Books | 9780062435798

THE BOOK OF MAGIC by Alice Hoffman (Fiction/Magical Realism)
For over 300 years, a curse has kept the Owens family from love --- but all of that is about to change. The novel begins in a library, the best place for a story to be conjured, when beloved aunt Jet Owens hears the deathwatch beetle and knows she has only seven days to live. Jet is not the only one in danger --- the curse is already at work. A frantic attempt to save a young man’s life spurs three generations of the Owens women, and one long-lost brother, to use their unusual gifts to break the curse as they travel from Paris to London to the English countryside where their ancestor Maria Owens first practiced the Unnamed Art. The younger generation discovers secrets that have been hidden from them in matters of both magic and love by Sally, their fiercely protective mother.
Scribner/Marysue Rucci Books | 9781982151492

BUILT TO LAST by Erin Hahn (Romantic Comedy)
Paperback Original
Shelby Springfield has spent the last 10 years trying to overcome her past, sanding it away like the rough spots on the vintage furniture she makes over. But as a former child star, it’s hard to forget a widely documented meltdown and huge public breakup with her former co-star, Lyle Jessup. It’s also hard to forget her other co-star and childhood sweetheart, Cameron Riggs, the one who got away. Anytime Shelby has called, Cameron has come running. Then he runs right off again to chase stories around the world by making documentaries, too scared to admit what he really wants. But when Lyle stirs the pot, getting the two back in the spotlight with a home renovation show, Cameron can't help but get on board. There's something in it for everyone --- almost.
St. Martin's Griffin | 9781250827098

EMPIRE OF PAIN: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty by Patrick Radden Keefe (True Crime/Biography)
The Sackler name has adorned the walls of many storied institutions --- Harvard, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Oxford, the Louvre. They are one of the richest families in the world, but the source of the family fortune was vague --- until it emerged that the Sacklers were responsible for making and marketing a blockbuster painkiller that was the catalyst for the opioid crisis. EMPIRE OF PAIN is the saga of three generations of a single family and the mark they would leave on the world. It chronicles the multiple investigations of the Sacklers and their company, and the scorched-earth legal tactics that the family has used to evade accountability.
Anchor | 9781984899019

EYES TURNED SKYWARD by Alena Dillon (Historical Fiction)
Paperback Original
Kathy Begley is an empty nester, the primary caretaker of her ailing mother, and the emotional support for her laid-off husband. She’s also returning to the office after two decades to work under a borderline inappropriate boss. Then a Congressional Gold Medal Ceremony invitation arrives, and she uncovers an unfathomable family secret: her mother, Peggy Mayfield, was a Women Airforce Service Pilot. Peggy jumped at the opportunity to become a WASP, the first American female to fly military aircraft. Once a spunky flyer, Peggy is now filled with regret as she confronts the end of her life, but Kathy is determined to make her last months count by securing Peggy long-overdue recognition and forgiving her before it’s too late.
William Morrow Paperbacks | 9780063144767

THE FAVOR by Nicci French (Psychological Thriller)
Paperback Original
Jude hasn’t seen Liam in years, but when he shows up at her work asking for a favor, she finds she can’t refuse. All Jude has to do is pick Liam up at a country train station --- without telling anyone. So what if she has to lie to her fiancé? Jude is still committed to him and their imminent wedding, even if she and Liam were in love once. She owes him. After the car crash that changed everything years ago, bright, ambitious Jude went to medical school, back on the path she had planned before meeting moody, artistic Liam. Meanwhile, he never fully recovered from the dark stain the accident left on his record. Now he’s gone. When the police show up at the station instead of Liam, Jude realizes that she knows nothing about the man he’s become.
William Morrow Paperbacks | 9780063243620

HONOR by Thrity Umrigar (Fiction)
Indian American journalist Smita has returned to India to cover a story, but reluctantly. Long ago, she and her family left the country with no intention of ever coming back. As she follows the case of Meena --- a Hindu woman attacked by members of her own village and her own family for marrying a Muslim man --- Smita comes face to face with a society where tradition carries more weight than one’s own heart, and a story that threatens to unearth the painful secrets of Smita’s own past. While Meena’s fate hangs in the balance, Smita tries in every way she can to right the scales. She also finds herself increasingly drawn to Mohan, an Indian man she meets while on assignment.
Algonquin Books | 9781643753300

IT’S A WONDERFUL WOOF: A Chet & Bernie Mystery by Spencer Quinn (Mystery)
Bernie is in the holiday spirit and refers a potential client to Victor Klovsky, a fellow private eye. But when Victor doesn’t show up at his mom’s to light the Hanukkah candles, she hires Chet and Bernie to find him. They soon discover that Victor’s client has also vanished. The trail leads to the ruins of a mission called Nuestra Señora de los Saguaros, dating back to the earliest Spanish explorers. Some very dangerous people are interested in the old mission. Does some dusty archive hold the secret of a previously unknown art treasure, possibly buried for centuries? What does the Flight into Egypt --- when Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus fled Herod --- have to do with saguaros, the Sonoran desert cactus?
Forge Books | 9781250770363

KEEP IT IN THE FAMILY by John Marrs (Psychological Thriller)
Paperback Original
Mia and Finn are busy turning a derelict house into their dream home when Mia unexpectedly falls pregnant. But just when they think the house is ready, Mia discovers a chilling message scored into a skirting board: I WILL SAVE THEM FROM THE ATTIC. Following the clue up into the eaves, the couple make a gruesome discovery: their dream home was once a house of horrors. Mia can’t shake her fixation with the monstrous crimes that happened right above them. Haunted by the terrible things she saw and desperate to find answers, her obsession pulls her ever further from her husband. Secrecy shrouds the mystery of the attic, but when shards of a dark truth start to emerge, Mia realizes the danger is terrifyingly present.
Thomas & Mercer | 9781542017275

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 | 9780306924873

A LINE TO KILL by Anthony Horowitz (Mystery)
Ex-Detective Inspector Daniel Hawthorne and his sidekick, author Anthony Horowitz, are invited to an exclusive literary festival on Alderney, an idyllic island off the south coast of England. Upon arrival, they meet the festival’s other guests --- an eccentric gathering that includes a bestselling children’s author, a French poet, a TV chef turned cookbook author, a blind psychic and a war historian --- along with a group of ornery locals embroiled in an escalating feud over a disruptive power line. When a local grandee is found dead under mysterious circumstances, Hawthorne and Horowitz become embroiled in the case. The island is locked down, no one is allowed on or off, and it soon becomes horribly clear that a murderer lurks in their midst. But who?
Harper Perennial | 9780062938152

A MARVELLOUS LIGHT by Freya Marske (Historical Fantasy)
Robin Blyth is the harried baronet of a seat gutted by his late parents’ excesses. When an administrative mistake sees him named the civil service liaison to a hidden magical society, he discovers what’s been operating beneath the unextraordinary reality he’s always known. Now Robin must contend with the beauty and danger of magic, an excruciating deadly curse, and the alarming visions of the future that come with it --- not to mention Edwin Courcey, his cold and prickly counterpart in the magical bureaucracy. Thrown together and facing unexpected dangers, Robin and Edwin discover a plot that threatens every magician in the British Isles --- and a secret that more than one person has already died to keep.
Tordotcom | 9781250831798

THE NOISE by James Patterson and J. D. Barker (Psychological Thriller)
In the shadow of Mount Hood, 16-year-old Tennant is checking rabbit traps with her eight-year-old sister, Sophie, when the girls are suddenly overcome by a strange vibration rising out of the forest, building in intensity until it sounds like a deafening crescendo of screams. From out of nowhere, their father sweeps them up and drops them through a trapdoor into a storm cellar. But the sound only gets worse.
Grand Central Publishing | 9781538753057

ORWELL’S ROSES by Rebecca Solnit (Literary Criticism)
Rebecca Solnit’s new book is a reflection on George Orwell’s passionate gardening and the way that his involvement with plants, particularly flowers, and the natural world illuminates his other commitments as a writer and antifascist, and the intertwined politics of nature and power. Sparked by her unexpected encounter with the surviving roses he planted in 1936, Solnit’s account of this understudied aspect of Orwell’s life explores his writing and his actions --- from going deep into the coal mines of England, fighting in the Spanish Civil War, critiquing Stalin when much of the international left still supported him (and then critiquing that left), to his analysis of the relationship between lies and authoritarianism.
Penguin Books | 9780593083376

THE PRESIDENT AND THE FROG by Carolina De Robertis (Fiction)
The former president of an unnamed Latin American country receives a journalist in his famed gardens to discuss his legacy and the dire circumstances that threaten democracy around the globe. Once known as the Poorest President in the World, his reputation is the stuff of myth: a former guerilla who was jailed for inciting revolution before becoming the face of justice, human rights and selflessness for his nation. Now, as he talks to the journalist, he wonders if he should reveal the strange secret of his imprisonment: while held in brutal solitary confinement, he survived, in part, by discussing revolution, the quest for dignity, and what it means to love a country, with the only creature who ever spoke back --- a loud-mouth frog.
Vintage | 9780593312100

REPRIEVE by James Han Mattson (Fiction)
On April 27, 1997, four contestants make it to the final cell of the Quigley House, a full-contact haunted escape room in Lincoln, Nebraska, made famous for its monstrosities, booby-traps and ghoulishly costumed actors. If the group can endure these horrors without shouting the safe word, “reprieve,” they’ll win a substantial cash prize. But before they can complete the challenge, a man breaks into the cell and kills one of the contestants. Those who were present on that fateful night lend their points of view. As each character’s journey unfurls and overlaps, deceit and misunderstandings fueled by obsession and prejudice are revealed, forcing all to reckon with the ways in which their beliefs and actions contributed to a horrifying catastrophe.
William Morrow Paperbacks | 9780063079922

WAR WOMEN: A Sueño and Bascom Investigation Set in South Korea by Martin Limón (Mystery)
South Korea, 1970s: Sergeant First Class Cecil B. Harvey has long been a friend (willing or unwilling) to Sergeants George Sueño and Ernie Bascom. So when he goes missing with a top-secret document that even a glance at could get an officer court-martialed, Sueño and Bascom take it upon themselves to find him. Meanwhile, Overseas Observer reporter Katie Byrd Worthington is back to make life difficult for top Army brass. When she lands in a Korean jail cell, Sueño and Bascom are sent to get her out --- and negotiate against the publication of an incriminating story about the mistreatment of women in the military that could land important officials in hot water. But what they learn will make it hard for them to stay silent.
Soho Crime | 9781641294041

THE YEAR’S BEST DARK FANTASY & HORROR: Volume 3 edited by Paula Guran (Dark Fantasy/Horror Anthology)
Paperback Original
The supernatural, the surreal and the all-too real. Such tales of the dark and the unknown have always fascinated us, and modern authors carry on the disquieting traditions of the past while inventing imaginative new ways to unsettle us. Chosen from a wide variety of venues, these stories are as eclectic and varied as shadows. The latest volume of The Year's Best Dark Fantasy and Horror edited by fantasy aficionado Paula Guran offers more than 400 pages of tales from some of today’s finest writers of the fantastique, including Alix E. Harrow, Zen Cho and Elizabeth Hand. Indulge if you dare, because these 23 tales of terror are sure to delight as well as disturb!
Pyr | 9781645060345

On Sale the Week of October 24th in Hardcover

October 25th

THE ATLAS PARADOX by Olivie Blake (Dark Fantasy)
THE ATLAS PARADOX is the long-awaited sequel to Olivie Blake's New York Times bestselling dark academic sensation, THE ATLAS SIX --- guaranteed to have even more yearning, backstabbing, betrayal and chaos. Six magicians were presented with the opportunity of a lifetime. Five are now members of the Society. Two paths lay before them. All must pick a side. Alliances will be tested, hearts will be broken, and The Society of Alexandrians will be revealed for what it is: a secret society with raw, world-changing power, headed by a man whose plans to change life as we know it are already under way.
Tor Books | 9781250855091

BLACK IS THE NIGHT: Stories Inspired by Cornell Woolrich edited by Maxim Jakubowski (Mystery/Short Stories)
BLACK IS THE NIGHT is an anthology of exclusive new short stories in tribute to the master of pulp-era crime writing, Cornell Woolrich. Woolrich, also published as William Irish and George Hopley, stands with Raymond Chandler, Erle Stanley Gardner and Dashiell Hammett as a legend in the genre. He is a hugely influential figure for crime writers, and is also remembered through the 50+ films made from his novels and stories, including Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window, The Bride Wore Black, I Married a Dead Man, Phantom Lady, Truffaut's La Sirène du Mississippi and Black Alibi.
Titan Books | 9781789099997

INCITING JOY: Essays by Ross Gay (Essays)
In these gorgeously written and timely pieces, prize-winning poet and author Ross Gay considers the joy we incite when we care for each other, especially during life’s inevitable hardships. Throughout INCITING JOY, he explores how we can practice recognizing that connection and how we expand it. In “We Kin,” he thinks about the garden (especially around August, when the zucchini and tomatoes come on) as a laboratory of mutual aid; in “Share Your Bucket” he explores skateboarding’s reclamation of public space; he considers the costs of masculinity in “Grief Suite”; and in “Through My Tears I Saw,” he recognizes what was healed in caring for his father as he was dying.
Algonquin Books | 9781643753041

INTO THE WINDWRACKED WILDS by A. Deborah Baker (Dark Fantasy/Adventure)
When the improbable road leaves Avery and Zib in the land of Air and at the mercy of the Queen of Swords, escape without becoming monsters may be impossible. But with the aid of the Queen's son, the unpredictable Jack Daw, they may emerge with enough of their humanity to someday make it home. Their journey is not over yet; the dangers are no less great.
Tordotcom | 9781250848444

THE LAST FOLK HERO: The Life and Myth of Bo Jackson by Jeff Pearlman (Sports/Biography)
From the mid-1980s into the early 1990s, the greatest athlete of all time streaked across American sports and popular culture. His strength was legendary, and his power was unmatched. He climbed (and walked across) walls, splintered baseball bats over his knee, and turned oncoming tacklers into ground meat. He became the first person to simultaneously star in two major professional sports and overtook Michael Jordan as America’s most recognizable pitchman. Then, almost overnight, he was gone. He was Bo Jackson. Drawing on an astonishing 720 original interviews, Jeff Pearlman captures as never before the elusive truth about Jackson, Auburn University’s transcendent Heisman Trophy winner, superstar of both the NFL and Major League Baseball, and ubiquitous “Bo Knows” Nike pitchman.
Mariner Books | 9780358437673

LIVID: A Scarpetta Novel by Patricia Cornwell (Mystery/Thriller)
Chief medical examiner Kay Scarpetta is the reluctant star witness in a sensational murder trial when she receives shocking news. The judge’s sister has been found dead. At first glance, it appears to be a home invasion. But then why was nothing stolen, and why is the garden strewn with dead plants and insects? Although there is no apparent cause of death, Scarpetta recognizes telltale signs of the unthinkable, and she knows the worst is yet to come. The forensic pathologist finds herself pitted against a powerful force that returns her to the past, and her time to catch the killer is running out.
Grand Central Publishing | 9781538725160

MARMEE by Sarah Miller (Historical Fiction)
In 1861, war is raging in the South, but in Concord, Massachusetts, Margaret March has her own battles to fight. With her husband serving as an army chaplain, the comfort and security of Margaret’s four daughters --- Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy --- now rest on her shoulders alone. Yet even with all that weighs upon her, Margaret longs to do more, so she fills her days with humdrum charity work. All of that is interrupted when she receives a telegram from the War Department, summoning her to her husband’s bedside in Washington, D.C. While she is away, Beth falls dangerously ill, forcing Margaret to confront the possibility that the price of her own generosity toward others may be her daughter’s life.
William Morrow | 9780063041875

MY TRAVELS WITH MRS. KENNEDY by Clint Hill and Lisa McCubbin Hill (Memoir)
While preparing to sell his home in Alexandria, Virginia, retired Secret Service agent Clint Hill uncovers an old steamer trunk in the garage, triggering a floodgate of memories. As he and Lisa McCubbin, his coauthor on three previous books, pry it open for the first time in 50 years, they find forgotten photos, handwritten notes, personal gifts and treasured mementos from the trips on which Hill accompanied First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy as her Secret Service agent. During these journeys, Jacqueline Kennedy became one of her husband’s --- and America’s --- greatest assets; in Hill’s words and the opinion of many others, she was “one of the best ambassadors the United States has ever had.”
Gallery Books | 9781982181116

NO PLAN B: A Jack Reacher Novel by Lee Child and Andrew Child (Thriller)
In Gerrardsville, Colorado, a woman dies under the wheels of a moving bus. The death is ruled a suicide. But Jack Reacher saw what really happened: A man in a gray hoodie and jeans, moving stealthily, pushed the victim to her demise --- before swiftly grabbing the dead woman’s purse and strolling away. When another homicide is ruled an accident, Reacher knows this is no coincidence. With a killer on the loose, Reacher has no time to waste to track down those responsible. But Reacher is unaware that these crimes are part of something much larger and more far-reaching: an arsonist out for revenge, a foster kid on the run, a cabal of powerful people involved in a secret conspiracy with many moving parts.
Delacorte Press | 9781984818546

THE PASSENGER by Cormac McCarthy (Fiction)
1980, Pass Christian, Mississippi: It is three in the morning when Bobby Western zips the jacket of his wet suit and plunges from the Coast Guard tender into darkness. His dive light illuminates the sunken jet, nine bodies still buckled in their seats, hair floating, eyes devoid of speculation. Missing from the crash site are the pilot’s flight bag, the plane’s black box and the 10th passenger. But how? A collateral witness to machinations that can only bring him harm, Western is shadowed in body and spirit --- by men with badges; by the ghost of his father, inventor of the bomb that melted glass and flesh in Hiroshima; and by his sister, the love and ruin of his soul.
Knopf | 9780307268990

THE POISON MACHINE: A Hunt & Hooke Novel by Robert J. Lloyd (Historical Thriller/Mystery)
London, 1679. A year has passed since the sensational attempt to murder King Charles II, but London is still a viper’s nest of rumored Catholic conspiracies, and of plots against them in turn. When Harry Hunt --- estranged from his mentor, Robert Hooke --- is summoned to the remote and windswept marshes of Norfolk, he is at first relieved to get away from the place. But in Norfolk, he finds that some Royal workers shoring up a riverbank have made a grim discovery --- the skeleton of a dwarf. Harry is able to confirm that the skeleton is that of Captain Jeffrey Hudson, a prominent member of the court once famously given to the Queen in a pie. Except no one knew Hudson was dead, because another man had been impersonating him.
Melville House | 9781612199757

THE REVOLUTIONARY: Samuel Adams by Stacy Schiff (Biography)
Thomas Jefferson asserted that if there was any leader of the Revolution, “Samuel Adams was the man.” John Adams thought his cousin was “the most sagacious politician” of all. With high-minded ideals and bare-knuckle tactics, Adams led what could be called the greatest campaign of civil resistance in American history. Pulitzer Prize–winning biographer Stacy Schiff returns Adams to his seat of glory, introducing us to the shrewd, eloquent and intensely disciplined man who supplied the moral backbone of the American Revolution.
Little, Brown and Company | 9780316441117

THE RISE OF THE DRAGON: An Illustrated History of the Targaryen Dynasty, Volume One by George R. R. Martin, Elio M. Garcia, Jr. and Linda Antonsson (Fantasy)
For hundreds of years, the Targaryens sat the Iron Throne of Westeros while their dragons ruled the skies. The story of the only family of dragonlords to survive Valyria’s Doom is a tale of twisty politics, alliances and betrayals, and acts both noble and craven. THE RISE OF THE DRAGON chronicles the creation and rise of Targaryen power in Westeros, covering the history first told in George R. R. Martin’s epic FIRE & BLOOD, from Aegon Targaryen’s conquest of Westeros through to the infamous Dance of the Dragons --- the bloody civil war that nearly undid Targaryen rule for good. Packed with all-new artwork, the Targaryens --- and their dragons --- come vividly to life in this deluxe reference book.
Ten Speed Press | 9781984859259

THE SINGULARITIES by John Banville (Fiction)
A man with a borrowed name steps from a flashy red sports car --- also borrowed --- onto the estate of his youth. But all is not as it seems. There is a new family living in the drafty old house: the Godleys, descendants of the late, world-famous scientist Adam Godley, whose theory of existence threw the universe into chaos. And this mystery man, who has just completed a prison sentence, feels as if time has stopped, or was torn, or was opened in new and strange ways. He must now vie with the idiosyncratic Godley family, their harried housekeeper who becomes his landlady, his recently commissioned biographer of Godley Sr., and a wealthy and beautiful woman from his past who comes bearing an unusual request.
Knopf | 9780525655176

THE SONG OF THE CELL: An Exploration of Medicine and the New Human by Siddhartha Mukherjee (Medicine/History)
In the late 1600s, a distinguished English polymath, Robert Hooke, and an eccentric Dutch cloth-merchant, Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, looked down their handmade microscopes. What they saw introduced a radical concept that swept through biology and medicine, touching virtually every aspect of the two sciences and altering both forever. It was the fact that complex living organisms are assemblages of tiny, self-contained, self-regulating units. Our organs, our physiology, our selves --- hearts, blood, brains --- are built from these compartments. Hooke christened them “cells.” In THE SONG OF THE CELL, Siddhartha Mukherjee tells the story of how scientists discovered cells, began to understand them, and are now using that knowledge to create new humans.
Scribner | 9781982117351

A STRANGE HABIT OF MIND: A Cameron Winter Mystery by Andrew Klavan (Hard-boiled Mystery)
The world of Big Tech is full of eccentric characters, but shamanic billionaire Gerald Byrne may be the strangest of the bunch. The founder of Byrner, a global social media platform, Byrne is known for speaking with vague profundity and dabbling in esoteric spiritual practices. And every person who gets in the way of his good work seems to die. When a former student commits suicide, English professor and ex-spy Cameron Winter takes it upon himself to understand why. The young man was expelled from the university in an unfortunate episode that left Winter sympathetic to his plight. After a prolonged silence, he reached out to his teacher with two words just before taking the fatal plunge from the roof of his San Francisco apartment: “Help me.”
Mysterious Press | 9781613163511

On Sale the Week of October 24th in Paperback

October 25th

ANYWHERE YOU RUN by Wanda M. Morris (Historical Thriller)
Paperback Original
In the summer of 1964, three innocent men are brutally murdered for trying to help Black Mississippians secure the right to vote. Against this backdrop, 21-year-old Violet Richards finds herself in more trouble than she’s ever been in her life. Suffering a brutal attack of her own, she kills the man responsible. But with the color of Violet’s skin, there is no way she can escape Jim Crow justice in Jackson, Mississippi. With the help of her white beau, she escapes. Back in Jackson, Violet’s older sister, Marigold, has dreams of attending law school, but she’s pregnant and unmarried. After news of the murder brings the police to her door, Marigold heads North seeking the promise of a better life and no more segregation. But has she made a terrible choice that threatens her life and that of her unborn child?
William Morrow Paperbacks | 9780063082502

THE BECOMING: The Dragon Heart Legacy, Book 2 by Nora Roberts (Paranormal Fantasy/Romance)
The world of magick and the world of man have long been estranged from one another. But some can walk between the two, including Breen Siobhan Kelly. She has just returned to Talamh with her friend, Marco, who is dazzled and disoriented by this realm --- a place filled with dragons, faeries and mermaids. He is welcomed kindly by her people, and by Keegan, leader of the Fey. Keegan has trained Breen as a warrior, and his yearning for her has grown along with his admiration of her strength and skills. But one member of Breen’s bloodline is not there to embrace her. Her grandfather, the outcast god Odran, plots to destroy Talamh --- and now all must unite to defeat his dark forces.
St. Martin’s Griffin | 9781250771780

THE CHILDREN ON THE HILL by Jennifer McMahon (Supernatural Thriller)
1978: At her renowned treatment center in Vermont, psychiatrist Helen Hildreth is acclaimed for her compassionate work with the mentally ill. But when she’s home with her grandchildren, Vi and Eric, she’s just Gran. Then one day, Gran brings home a child to stay with the family. Although Iris does not behave like a normal girl, Vi and Eric invite her to join their Monster Club, where they catalogue all kinds of monsters and dream up ways to defeat them. 2019: Lizzy Shelley, the host of the popular podcast “Monsters Among Us,” is traveling to Vermont, where a young girl has been abducted, and a monster sighting has the town in an uproar. Lizzy knows better than anyone that monsters are real --- and one of them is her very own sister.
Gallery/Scout Press | 9781982153960

THE COLLECTIVE by Alison Gaylin (Psychological Thriller)
Camille Gardener is a grieving --- and angry --- mother who, five years after her daughter’s death, is still obsessed with the privileged young man she believes to be responsible. When her rash actions draw the attention of a secret group of women --- the collective --- Camille is drawn into a dark web where these mothers share their wildly different stories of loss, as well as their desire for justice in a world where privilege denies accountability. Fueled by mutual rage, the collective members devise and act out retribution fantasies via precise, anonymous, highly coordinated revenge killings. As Camille struggles to comprehend whether this is a role-playing exercise or a terrifying reality, she must decide if these women are truly avenging angels or monsters.
William Morrow Paperbacks | 9780063143562

DAMASCUS STATION by David McCloskey (Political Thriller)
CIA case officer Sam Joseph is dispatched to Paris to recruit Syrian Palace official Mariam Haddad. The two fall into a forbidden relationship, which supercharges Haddad’s recruitment and creates unspeakable danger when they enter Damascus to find the man responsible for the disappearance of an American spy. But the cat-and-mouse chase for the killer soon leads to a trail of high-profile assassinations and the discovery of a dark secret at the heart of the Syrian regime, bringing the pair under the all-seeing eyes of Assad’s spy catcher, Ali Hassan, and his brother Rustum, the head of the feared Republican Guard.
W. W. Norton & Company | 9781324036135

THE DARKEST PLACE: A Robin Lockwood Novel by Phillip Margolin (Legal Thriller)
As she recovers from the consequences of representing a reprehensible defendant charged with even more reprehensible crimes, Robin Lockwood heads home to her small town of Elk Grove. There, a unique legal challenge presents itself. Marjorie Loman, a surrogate, is accused of kidnapping the baby she carried for another couple, and assaulting that couple in the process. There's no question that she committed these actions, but that's not the same as being guilty of the crime. As Robin works to defend her client, she learns that Marjorie Loman has been hiding under a fake identity and is facing a warrant for her arrest for another, even more serious crime. And buried within the truth may once again be unexpected, deadly consequences.
Minotaur Books | 9781250849830

DESOLATION CANYON by P. J. Tracy (Mystery/Thriller)
LAPD Detective Margaret Nolan is struggling to move forward after the death of her brother in Afghanistan and taking a life in the line of duty. A moment of weakness leads to cocktails with a colleague --- an attraction she knows could be dangerous --- at the luxurious Hotel Bel-Air bar. A stroll through the grounds leads to a grim discovery beneath the surface of Swan Lake: the body of a successful attorney who made his fortune in international trade. It initially appears to be death by misadventure, but the case is anything but straightforward. As a series of shocking revelations emerge, Nolan finds herself confronting a sinister cabal that just might destroy her and everyone she loves.
Minotaur Books | 9781250860668

GREENWICH PARK by Katherine Faulkner (Domestic Thriller)
Helen’s idyllic life begins to change the day she attends her first prenatal class and meets Rachel, an unpredictable single mother-to-be. Rachel doesn’t seem very maternal, but Helen is still drawn to her. She makes Helen laugh, invites her confidences and distracts her from her fears. But her increasingly erratic behavior is unsettling. And Helen is not the only one who’s noticed. Her friends and family begin to suspect that her strange new friend may be linked to their shared history in unexpected ways. When Rachel threatens to expose a past crime that could destroy all of their lives, it becomes clear that there are more than a few secrets laying beneath the broad-leaved trees and warm lamplight of Greenwich Park.
Gallery Books | 9781982150327

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 | 9781250847416

KILLER VIEW by Roy Johansen (Thriller)
Kendra Michaels, blind before gaining her sight via a revolutionary surgical procedure, offers her razor-sharp senses to assist her friend, Jessie Mercado, in a baffling case. When Owen Blake of Mamertine Consulting hires Mercado to find his missing partner, their suspect list is filled with recently released white-collar criminals, a few drug kingpins and a couple of murderers to keep things interesting. As witnesses turn up dead and car chases leave destruction in their wake, Jessie and Kendra learn just how far someone will go to keep the fate of one man hidden. But why? Together they must hunt down the lethal secrets of Blake’s company, hell-bent on staying one step ahead of disaster.
Grand Central Publishing | 9781538762844

THE LAST SHADOW by Orson Scott Card (Science Fiction)
THE LAST SHADOW is the long-awaited conclusion to both the original Ender series and the Ender's Shadow series, as the children of Ender and Bean solve the great problem of the Ender Universe --- the deadly virus they call the descolada, which is incurable and will kill all of humanity if it is allowed to escape from Lusitania.
Tor Books | 9780765344144

LOOK BOTH WAYS by Linwood Barclay (Thriller)
Paperback Original
The media have descended on Garrett Island, a small, isolated community that is the setting of a visionary experiment. All the residents’ cars were sent to the mainland, and for the past month the islanders have been “driving” the Arrival, a revolutionary autonomous vehicle. With a simple voice command, an Arrival will take you wherever you want to go. As the excitement reaches a fever pitch, public relations executive Sandra Montrose prepares for Arrival Inc.’s flashy press event. But as the celebratory day gets underway, disaster strikes. A visiting journalist has vanished, possibly murdered. Before long, the Arrivals run amok, no longer taking orders from their passengers. They’re starting to organize. They’re beginning to hunt. And they seem hell-bent on killing any human they encounter.
William Morrow | 9780063144170

A MAN OF HONOR by Barbara Taylor Bradford (Historical Fiction)
Opening five years before the start of A WOMAN OF SUBSTANCE, A MAN OF HONOR begins with 13-year-old Blackie O’Neill facing an uncertain future in rural County Kerry. Orphaned and alone, he has just buried his sister, Bronagh, and must leave his home to set sail for England, in search of a better life with his mother’s brother in Leeds. There, he learns his trade as a navvy, amid the grand buildings and engineering triumphs of one of England’s most prosperous cities, and starts to dream of greater things. And then, high on the Yorkshire moors, in the mists of a winter morning he meets a kitchen maid called Emma Harte. In A MAN OF HONOR, the true Blackie O'Neill is revealed.
St. Martin’s Paperbacks | 9781250850805

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 | 9780525536017

SHOOT-OUT AT SUGAR CREEK: A Caleb York Western by Mickey Spillane and Max Allan Collins (Western)
An abusive, drunken young scoundrel resists arrest, holds a barmaid hostage, and gets what he deserves from the blazing .44 of Sheriff Caleb York. The late youth's powerful mother, cattle baroness Victoria Hammond, takes the news with stoic resignation. All she asks of Caleb is a favor: help her convince Willa Cullen --- the love of Caleb's life --- to sell her the spread that Willa's late father had carved out of the wilderness. As Willa refuses to give up her land without a fight, the seductive cattle queen sends an army of hired guns to Sugar Creek, the sole source of water available for Willa's herd. Caleb finds himself caught in the crossfire of a savage shoot-out between Willa's cowboys and Victoria's gunfighters.
Pinnacle | 9780786046904

STRAIGHT THROUGH THE LABYRINTH: Becoming a Gay Father in China by Peter Rupert Lighte (Memoir)
Paperback Original
STRAIGHT THROUGH THE LABYRINTH chronicles the true story of a gay Jewish scholar of China caught in the crosshairs of the very history he has studied. Suddenly ensnared in Hong Kong's handover back to China in 1997, Peter Lighte, intent on adopting a Chinese baby, navigates his way through daunting bureaucracy and unforeseen drama --- and prevails, likely becoming Hong Kong's first adoptive gay father. A second daughter soon follows, a story no less fraught, convincing him that purposeful synchronicity can thrash anything in the way of love.
Acausal Press | 9780991252909

SUCH A PRETTY GIRL by T. Greenwood (Fiction)
Paperback Original
Living peacefully in Vermont, Ryan Flannigan is shocked when a text from her oldest friend alerts her to a devastating news item. A controversial photo of her as a preteen has been found in the possession of a wealthy investor recently revealed as a pedophile and a sex trafficker --- with an inscription to him from Ryan’s mother on the back. Memories crowd in, providing their own distinctive pictures of her mother Fiona, an aspiring actress, and their move to the West Village in 1976. Forced to reexamine her childhood, Ryan begins to untangle her young fears and her mother’s ambitions, and the role each played in the fraught blackout summer of 1977.
Kensington | 9781496739322

THIEF OF FATE: A Providence Falls Novel by Jude Deveraux and Tara Sheets (Romance/Magical Realism)
Paperback Original
When Liam O’Connor stole Cora McLeod from her destined soul mate, Finley Walsh, in 1844, he changed the course of history. Now Liam has been given three months to set things right, but he has failed to reunite Cora and Finn. And with time running out, things are looking worse than ever. As the three investigate a murder case together, they are caught in a devilish love triangle. Finn has always loved Cora. She has finally realized she wants Liam. And Liam knows he has no choice but to push Cora away if he has any hope of avoiding eternal damnation. As Liam tries desperately to make amends, he realizes his actions in the past have put them all in grave danger. And, once again, someone will pay the ultimate price.
Mira | 9780778386551

TOM CLANCY CHAIN OF COMMAND: A Jack Ryan Novel by Marc Cameron (Thriller/Adventure)
A shadowy billionaire uses his fortune to further his corrupt ambitions. Along the way, he’s toppled democratically elected governments and exacerbated divisions within stable nations. Now, he’s ready to implement his most ambitious plan of all. There’s only one force standing in his way --- President Jack Ryan. How do you compel a man like Jack Ryan to bend? It will take more than political headwinds or media disfavor to cause him to turn from his duty to the American people, but every man has an Achilles heel. Jack Ryan’s is his family. The answer is as simple as it is shocking. The billionaire has assembled an international team of the most ruthless mercenaries alive. Their mission --- kidnap the First Lady.
Berkley | 9780593188170

THE VANISHING POINT by Elizabeth Brundage (Literary Thriller)
Julian Ladd and Rye Adler cross paths as photography students in the exclusive Brodsky Workshop. Both men are fascinated with their beautiful and talented classmate, Magda, whose captivating images of her Polish neighborhood set her apart. Twenty years later, Rye is at the top of his field. When Magda reenters his life, asking for help only he can give, Rye finds himself in a broken landscape of street people and addicts, and his search for a missing boy becomes his own desperate fight to survive. Months later, when Julian discovers Rye’s obituary, the paper makes it sound like a suicide. Julian attends the funeral, where there is no casket and no body. This sudden reentry into a world he thought he left behind forces Julian to question not only Rye’s death, but the very foundations of his life.
Back Bay Books | 9780316430388

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 | 9780515155624

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