January 17, 2023

January 17, 2023

In this newsletter, you will find books releasing the weeks of January 16th and January 23rd 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 Winter Reading Contests and Feature, which we have brought back for an eighth year. On select days in January and February, we are hosting a series of 24-hour contests spotlighting a book releasing this winter and giving five lucky readers the chance to win it. Our first contest kicks off TOMORROW, Wednesday, January 18th at noon ET.

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, January 18th 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 Laura Zigman and Elle Cosimano about their latest novels: Zigman's SMALL WORLD and Cosimano's FINLAY DONOVAN JUMPS THE GUN.

Wednesday, January 18th at 7pm ET: The Poisoned Pen Bookstore: P. J. Tracy will talk about her latest novel, THE DEVIL YOU KNOW, the third installment in her mystery/thriller series starring LAPD Detective Margaret Nolan.

Thursday, January 19th at 3pm ET: Palm Beach Historical Society: Listen in as authors Allison Pataki and Deborah Goodrich Royce, and attorney Bryant Sims, discuss the social life of the rich and famous when Marjorie Merriweather Post was in residence at Mar-a-Lago. Moderator Mary Weiss will guide the conversation about researching, writing and living among high society in mid-20th-century Palm Beach.

Thursday, January 19th at 7pm ET: Warwick's: Warwick's will host Laura Zigman as she discusses her new book, SMALL WORLD, with Mona Awad. This heartfelt novel is about two offbeat and newly divorced sisters who move in together as adults --- and finally reckon with their childhood.

Monday, January 23rd at 7:30pm ET: “Lisa Live!”: Join Lisa Scottoline every Monday night as she hosts her weekly “Talking LOYALTY” video series and Facebook Live events leading up to the publication of her historical novel, LOYALTY, on March 28th. And be sure to enter the LOYALTY Pre-order Sweepstakes!

Tuesday, January 24th at 3pm ET: Barnes & Noble: Join Barnes & Noble as they welcome #1 New York Times bestselling authors Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child for a live, virtual discussion of THE CABINET OF DR. LENG, their latest Agent Pendergast thriller, as part of the B&N Midday Mystery Virtual Event series.

This Week's Bonus News:
Bookreporter.com's Eighth Annual
Winter Reading Contests and Feature

On Sale the Week of January 16th in Hardcover

January 17th

THE 12th COMMANDMENT by Daniel Torday (Literary Mystery)
The Dönme sect --- a group of Jewish-Islamic adherents with ancient roots --- lives in an isolated community on rural land outside of small-town Mt. Izmir, Ohio. Self-sustaining, deeply religious and heavily armed, they have followed their self-proclaimed prophet, Natan of Flatbush, from Brooklyn to this new land. But the brutal murder of Natan’s teenage son throws their tight community into turmoil. When Zeke Leger, a 30-year-old writer at a national magazine, arrives from New York for the funeral of a friend, he becomes intrigued by the case and begins to report on the murder --- with dangerous implications for his body and his soul.
St. Martin's Press | 9781250191816

THE CABINET OF DR. LENG: A Pendergast Novel by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child (Thriller)
Astoundingly, Constance Greene has found a way back to the place of her origins, New York City in the late 1800s, leaping at the chance, although it means leaving the present forever. Constance sets off on a quest to prevent the events that lead to the deaths of her sister and brother. But along the road to redemption, Manhattan’s most infamous serial killer, Dr. Enoch Leng, lies in wait, ready to strike at the slightest provocation. Meanwhile, in contemporary New York, FBI Special Agent Pendergast feverishly searches for a way to reunite with Constance. But will he discover a way back to her before it’s too late?
Grand Central Publishing | 9781538736777

THE DEVIL YOU KNOW by P. J. Tracy (Mystery/Thriller)
Los Angeles has many faces: the real LA where regular people live and work, the degenerate underbelly of any big city, and the rarefied world of wealth, power and celebrity. LAPD Detective Margaret Nolan’s latest case plunges her into this insular realm of privilege and gives her a glimpse of the decay behind the glitter. Beloved actor Evan Hobbes is found in the rubble of a Malibu rockslide, a day after a fake video ruins his career. It’s not clear to Nolan if it’s an accident, a suicide or a murder, and things get murkier as the investigation expands to his luminary friends and colleagues. Meanwhile, Hobbes’ agent is dealing with damage control, his psychotic boss and a woman he’s scorned.
Minotaur Books | 9781250859945

EVERYONE IN MY FAMILY HAS KILLED SOMEONE by Benjamin Stevenson (Mystery)
Everyone in my family has killed someone. Some of us, the high achievers, have killed more than once. I’m not trying to be dramatic, but it is the truth. Some of us are good, others are bad, and some just unfortunate. I’m Ernest Cunningham. Call me Ern or Ernie. I wish I’d killed whoever decided our family reunion should be at a ski resort, but it’s a little more complicated than that. Have I killed someone? Yes. I have. Who was it?
Mariner Books | 9780063279025

A GUEST AT THE FEAST: Essays by Colm Tóibín (Essays)
“IT ALL STARTED WITH MY BALLS.” So begins Colm Tóibín’s fabulously compelling essay, laced with humor, about his diagnosis and treatment for cancer. Tóibín survives, but he has entered, as he says, “the age of one ball.” The second essay in this collection is a memoir about growing up in the 1950s and ’60s in the small town of Enniscorthy in County Wexford, the setting for many of Tóibín’s novels and stories, including BROOKLYN, THE BLACKWATER LIGHTSHIP and NORA WEBSTER. Tóibín describes his education by priests, several of whom were condemned years later for abuse. He writes about Irish history and literature, and about the long, tragic journey toward legal and social acceptance of homosexuality.
Scribner | 9781476785202

HOW TO SELL A HAUNTED HOUSE by Grady Hendrix (Gothic Thriller/Horror)
When Louise finds out that her parents have died, she dreads going home. She doesn’t want to leave her daughter with her ex and fly to Charleston. She doesn’t want to deal with her family home, stuffed to the rafters with the remnants of her father’s academic career and her mother’s lifelong obsession with puppets and dolls. She doesn’t want to learn how to live without the two people who knew and loved her best in the world. Most of all, she doesn’t want to deal with her brother, Mark, who never left their hometown, gets fired from one job after another, and resents her success. Unfortunately, she’ll need his help to get the house ready for sale. But some houses don’t want to be sold, and their home has other plans for both of them.
Berkley | 9780593201268

INDEPENDENCE by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni (Historical Fiction)
India, 1947. In a rural village in Bengal live three sisters. Priya is intelligent and idealistic, resolved to follow in her father’s footsteps and become a doctor. Deepa is the beauty, determined to make a marriage that will bring her family joy and status. Jamini is devout, sharp-eyed and a talented quiltmaker, with deeper passions than she reveals. Theirs is a home of love and safety, a refuge from the violent events taking shape in the nation. Then their father is killed during a riot, and even their neighbors turn against them. When the partition of India is officially decided, a drastic --- and dangerous --- change is in the air. The sisters find themselves separated from one another, each on different paths. They fear for what will happen not just to themselves, but to each other.
William Morrow | 9780063142381

KILLER STORY by Matt Witten (Thriller)
Talented and idealistic young reporter Petra Kovach is on the brink of being laid off from her third failing newspaper in a row. To save her job, she pitches the launch of a true crime podcast about a sensational, unsolved murder. Years earlier, an alt-right YouTuber was killed in her Harvard dorm room, and the case went cold. Petra knew the victim; she was once her camp counselor and loved her like a little sister, despite their political differences. Petra’s investigation gets off to a rocky start, as her promising leads quickly shrivel up. In her passionate quest for justice --- and clicks --- Petra burns sources and breaks laws, ultimately putting her own life on the line.
Oceanview Publishing | 9781608095247

LOCUST LANE by Stephen Amidon (Mystery/Thriller)
On the surface, Emerson, Massachusetts, is just like any other affluent New England suburb. But when a young woman is found dead in the nicest part of town, the powerful neighbors close ranks to keep their families safe. Eden Perry’s death kicks off an investigation into the three teenagers who were partying with her that night, each of whom is a suspect: Hannah, a sweet girl with an unstable history; Jack, the popular kid with a mean streak; and Christopher, an outsider desperate to fit in. Their parents, each with motivations of their own, only complicate the picture: they will do anything to protect their children, even at the others’ expense.
Celadon Books | 9781250844231

THE MITFORD AFFAIR by Marie Benedict (Historical Fiction)
Between the World Wars, the six Mitford sisters dominate the English scenes. Though they've weathered scandals before, the family falls into disarray when Diana divorces her wealthy husband to marry a fascist leader and Unity follows her sister's lead all the way to Munich, inciting rumors that she's become Hitler's mistress. As the Nazis rise in power, novelist Nancy Mitford grows suspicious of her sisters' constant visits to Germany and the high-ranking fascist company they keep. When she overhears alarming conversations and uncovers disquieting documents, Nancy must make excruciating choices as Great Britain goes to war with Germany.
Sourcebooks Landmark | 9781728229362

THE MITFORD SECRET: A Mitford Murders Mystery by Jessica Fellowes (Historical Mystery)
It’s 1941, and the Mitford household is splintered by the vicissitudes of war. To bring the clan together, Deborah invites them to Chatsworth for Christmas, along with a selection of society’s most impressive and glamorous guests, as well as old family friend Louisa Cannon, a private detective. A psychic arrives one night, and to liven things up Deborah agrees she may host a séance. But entertainment turns to dark mystery as the psychic reveals that a maid was murdered in this very same house --- and she can prove it. Louisa steps forward to try to solve the cold case. But with a house full of people who want nothing more than to bury their secrets, will she be able to unmask the murderer? And how deep does the truth lie?
Minotaur Books | 9781250819222

MR. BREAKFAST by Jonathan Carroll (Fiction/Magical Realism)
Graham Patterson’s life has hit a dead end. His career as a comedian is failing. The love of his life recently broke up with him, and he literally has no idea what to do next. With nothing to lose, he buys a new car and hits the road, planning to drive across the country and hopefully figure out his next moves before reaching California. But along the way, Patterson does something his old self would never have even considered: he gets tattooed by a brilliant tattoo artist in North Carolina. The decision sets off a series of extraordinary events that changes his life forever. Among other things, Patterson is gifted with the ability to see in real time three different lives that are available to him. The choice is his: The life he is leading right now, or two very different ones.
Melville House | 9781612199924

REALLY GOOD, ACTUALLY by Monica Heisey (Fiction/Humor)
Maggie is fine. She’s doing really good, actually. Sure, she’s broke, her graduate thesis on something obscure is going nowhere, and her marriage only lasted 608 days. But at the ripe old age of 29, Maggie is determined to embrace her new life as a Surprisingly Young Divorcée™. Now she has time to take up nine hobbies, eat hamburgers at 4am, and “get back out there” sex-wise. With the support of her tough-loving academic advisor, Merris; her newly divorced friend, Amy; and her group chat (naturally), Maggie barrels through her first year of single life, intermittently dating, occasionally waking up on the floor and asking herself tough questions along the way.
William Morrow | 9780063235410

THE SENSE OF WONDER by Matthew Salesses (Fiction)
When Won Lee, the first Asian American in the NBA, stuns the world in a seven-game winning streak, the global media audience dubs it “The Wonder” --- much to Won’s chagrin. Meanwhile, Won struggles to get attention from his coach, his peers, his fans and, most importantly, his hero, Powerball!, who also happens to be his teammate and the captain. Covering it all is sportswriter Robert Sung, who writes about Won's stardom while grappling with his own missed hoops opportunities, as well as his place as an Asian American in media. And to witness it all is Carrie Kang, a big studio producer, who juggles a newfound relationship with Won while attempting to bring K-drama to an industry not known to embrace anything new or different.
Little, Brown and Company | 9780316425711

THE SHARDS by Bret Easton Ellis (Psychological/Literary Thriller)
Seventeen-year-old Bret is a senior at the exclusive Buckley prep school when a new student arrives with a mysterious past. Robert Mallory is shielding a secret from Bret and his friends even as he becomes a part of their tightly knit circle. Bret’s obsession with Mallory is equaled only by his increasingly unsettling preoccupation with the Trawler, a serial killer on the loose who seems to be drawing ever closer to Bret and his friends. The coincidences are uncanny, but they are also filtered through the imagination of a teenager whose gifts for constructing narrative from the filaments of his own life are about to make him one of the most explosive literary sensations of his generation. Can he trust his friends --- or his own mind --- to make sense of the danger they appear to be in?
Knopf | 9780593535608

WADE IN THE WATER by Nyani Nkrumah (Fiction)
Set in 1982, in rural, racially divided Ricksville, Mississippi, WADE IN THE WATER tells the story of Ella, a Black, unloved, precocious 11-year-old, and Ms. St. James, a mysterious white woman from Princeton who appears in Ella’s community to carry out some research. Soon, Ms. St. James befriends Ella, who is willing to risk everything to keep her new friend in a town that does not want her there. The relationship between Ella and Ms. St. James, at times loving and funny and other times tense and cautious, becomes more fraught and complex as Ella unwittingly pushes at Ms. St. James’ carefully constructed boundaries that guard a complicated past, and dangerous secrets that could have devastating consequences.
Amistad | 9780063226616

WHAT LIES IN THE WOODS by Kate Alice Marshall (Thriller)
Naomi Shaw used to believe in magic. Twenty-two years ago, she and her two best friends, Cassidy and Olivia, spent the summer roaming the woods, imagining a world of ceremony and wonder. They called it the Goddess Game. The summer ended suddenly when Naomi was attacked. Miraculously, she survived her 17 stab wounds and lived to identify the man who had hurt her. The girls’ testimony put away a serial killer, wanted for murdering six women. They were heroes. And they were liars. For decades, the friends have kept a secret worth killing for. But now Olivia wants to tell, and Naomi sets out to find out what really happened in the woods --- no matter how dangerous the truth turns out to be.
Flatiron Books | 9781250859884

On Sale the Week of January 16th in Paperback

January 17th

A BALLAD OF LOVE AND GLORY by Reyna Grande (Historical Fiction)
Ximena Salomé is a gifted Mexican healer who dreams of building a family with the man she loves on the coveted land she calls home. But when Texas Rangers storm her ranch and shoot her husband dead, her dreams are burned to ashes. Vowing to honor her husband’s memory and defend her country, Ximena uses her healing skills as an army nurse on the frontlines of the ravaging war. Meanwhile, John Riley, an Irish immigrant in the Yankee army, is sickened by the unjust war and the unspeakable atrocities against his countrymen by nativist officers. In a bold act of defiance, he swims across the Río Grande and joins the Mexican Army --- a desertion punishable by execution. When Ximena and John meet, a dangerous attraction blooms between them.
Washington Square Press | 9781982165277

THE BALLAD OF PERILOUS GRAVES by Alex Jennings (Fantasy)
Nola is a city full of wonders. A place of sky trolleys and dead cabs, where haints dance the night away and Wise Women help keep the order. To those from Away, Nola might seem strange. To Perilous Graves, it’s simply home. Perry knows Nola’s rhythm as intimately as his own heartbeat. So when the city’s Great Magician starts appearing in odd places and essential songs are forgotten, Perry knows trouble is afoot. Nine songs of power have escaped from the piano that maintains the city’s beat, and without them, Nola will fail. Unwilling to watch his home be destroyed, Perry will sacrifice everything to save it. But a storm is brewing, and the Haint of All Haints is awake. Nola’s time might be coming to an end.
Redhook | 9780759557208

CHASING HISTORY: A Kid in the Newsroom by Carl Bernstein (Memoir)
In 1960, Carl Bernstein was just a 16-year-old at considerable risk of failing to graduate high school. Inquisitive, self-taught --- and, yes, truant --- Bernstein landed a job as a copyboy at the Evening Star, the afternoon paper in Washington. By 19, he was a reporter there. In CHASING HISTORY: A Kid in the Newsroom, Bernstein recalls the origins of his storied journalistic career as he chronicles the Kennedy era, the swelling civil rights movement, and a slew of grisly crimes. He spins a buoyant, frenetic account of educating himself in what Bob Woodward describes as “the genius of perpetual engagement.”
Holt Paperbacks | 9781250869890

ECHO by Thomas Olde Heuvelt (Dark Fantasy/Horror)
Travel journalist and mountaineer Nick Grevers awakes from a coma to find that his climbing buddy, Augustin, is missing and presumed dead. Nick’s own injuries are as extensive as they are horrifying, and he claims amnesia --- but he remembers everything. He remembers how he and Augustin were mysteriously drawn to the Maudit, a remote and scarcely documented peak in the Swiss Alps. He remembers how the slopes of Maudit were eerily quiet, and how they got the ominous sense that they were not alone. But it isn’t just the memory of the accident that haunts Nick. Something has awakened inside of him, something that endangers the lives of everyone around him.
Tor Nightfire | 9781250759566

THE JAILHOUSE LAWYER by James Patterson and Nancy Allen (Legal Thriller)
In picture-perfect Erva, Alabama, the most serious crimes are misdemeanors. Speeding tickets. Shoplifting. Contempt of court. Then why is the jail so crowded? And why are so few prisoners released? There’s only one place to learn the truth behind these incriminating secrets. Sometimes the best education a lawyer can get is a short stretch of hard time.
Grand Central Publishing | 9781538752579

JANE AND THE YEAR WITHOUT A SUMMER: Being a Jane Austen Mystery by Stephanie Barron (Historical Mystery)
Jane Austen is not feeling well. She attributes her poor condition to the stress of family burdens, which even the drafting of her latest manuscript cannot alleviate. Her apothecary recommends a trial of the curative waters at Cheltenham Spa, in Gloucestershire. Jane decides to use some of the profits earned from her last novel, EMMA, and treat herself to a period of rest and reflection at the spa, in the company of her sister, Cassandra. However, Cheltenham Spa hardly turns out to be the relaxing sojourn Jane and Cassandra envisaged. It is immediately obvious that other boarders at the guest house where the Misses Austen are staying have come to Cheltenham with stresses of their own --- some of them deadly.
Soho Crime | 9781641294096

THE LAST HOUSE ON THE STREET by Diane Chamberlain (Domestic Thriller/Mystery)
1965: Growing up in the well-to-do town of Round Hill, North Carolina, Ellie Hockley has chosen to spend her summer break as a volunteer helping to register Black voters. But as she follows her ideals fighting for the civil rights of the marginalized, her scandalized parents scorn her efforts, and her neighbors reveal their prejudices. 2010: Architect Kayla Carter and her husband designed a beautiful house for themselves in Round Hill’s new development, Shadow Ridge Estates. It was supposed to be a home where they could raise their three-year-old daughter and grow old together. Instead, it’s the place where Kayla’s husband died in an accident. And her neighbor, Ellie Hockley, is harboring long-buried secrets about the dark history of the land where her house was built.
St. Martin’s Griffin | 9781250267986

LIE TO HER by Melinda Leigh (Mystery/Thriller)
Paperback Original
When a digital marketer is found murdered in his backyard --- hands bound and face smothered by plastic wrap --- Sheriff Bree Taggert and criminal investigator Matt Flynn respond to the call. Their investigation focuses on the man’s dating-app profile and the word liar carved into his forehead. One day later, the killer strikes again. Both victims are players in the internet dating scene. In their wake, they leave a trail of hurt --- and angry --- women. But Bree and Matt aren’t convinced the motive is as simple as it appears. Everyone they interview seems to be lying or hiding something. As the list of suspects grows, the killer’s rage escalates, and he leaves a personal and deadly warning for Bree. They must act fast. Because someone Bree loves is targeted as the next to die.
Montlake | 9781542030649

THE LOVE OF MY LIFE by Rosie Walsh (Mystery/Thriller)
Emma loves her husband, Leo, and their young daughter, Ruby. But almost everything she's told them about herself is a lie. And she just might have gotten away with it if it weren’t for her husband’s job. Leo is an obituary writer; Emma is a well-known marine biologist. When she suffers a serious illness, Leo copes by doing what he knows best --- researching and writing about his wife’s life. But as he starts to unravel the truth, he discovers that the woman he loves doesn’t really exist. Even her name isn’t real. When the very darkest moments of Emma’s past finally emerge, she must somehow prove to Leo that she really is the woman he always thought she was. But first, she must tell him about the other love of her life.
Penguin Books | 9780593297018

THE MAGNOLIA PALACE by Fiona Davis (Historical Fiction)
Eight months since losing her mother in the Spanish flu outbreak of 1919, Lillian Carter's life has completely fallen apart. So when she stumbles upon an employment opportunity at the Frick mansion, she jumps at the chance. But before she knows it, she is pulled into a tangled web of romantic trysts, stolen jewels and family drama. Nearly 50 years later, mod English model Veronica Weber has her own chance to make her career within the walls of the former Frick residence, now converted into an impressive museum. But then she chances upon a series of hidden messages in the museum --- messages that will lead her on a hunt that not only could solve Veronica's financial woes, but could finally reveal the truth behind a decades-old murder in the infamous Frick family.
Dutton | 9780593184035

MOUTH TO MOUTH by Antoine Wilson (Psychological Thriller)
In a first-class lounge at JFK airport, our narrator listens as Jeff Cook, a former classmate he only vaguely remembers, shares the uncanny story of his adult life --- a life that changed course years before, the moment he resuscitated a drowning man. Jeff reveals that after that traumatic, galvanizing morning on the beach, he was compelled to learn more about the man whose life he had saved. Upon discovering that the man is renowned art dealer Francis Arsenault, Jeff begins to surreptitiously visit his Beverly Hills gallery. Although Francis does not seem to recognize him as the man who saved his life, he nevertheless casts his legendary eye on Jeff and sees something worthy. Their paths come together and diverge in dizzying ways until the novel’s staggering ending.
Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster | 9781982181819

PANDORA by Susan Stokes-Chapman (Historical Fiction)
Paperback Original
London, 1799. Dora Blake, an aspiring jewelry artist, lives with her odious uncle atop her late parents’ once-famed shop of antiquities. After a mysterious Greek vase is delivered, her uncle begins to act suspiciously, keeping the vase locked in the store’s basement, away from prying eyes --- including Dora’s. Intrigued by her uncle’s peculiar behavior, Dora turns to young, ambitious antiquarian scholar Edward Lawrence, who eagerly agrees to help. Edward believes the ancient vase is the key that will unlock his academic future; Dora sees it as a chance to establish her own name. But what Edward discovers about the vase has Dora questioning everything she has believed about her life, her family and the world as she knows it.
Harper Perennial | 9780063280021

PERPETUAL WEST by Mesha Maren (Fiction)
When Alex and Elana move from small-town Virginia to El Paso, they are just a young married couple, intent on a new beginning. Mexican by birth but adopted by white American Pentecostal parents, Alex is hungry to learn about the place where he was born. He spends every free moment across the border in Juárez studying lucha libre (Mexican wrestling) for his graduate work in sociology. Meanwhile, Elana feels disillusioned by academia and has stopped going to class. She has no idea that Alex has fallen in love with Mateo, a lucha libre fighter. When Alex goes missing and Elana can’t determine whether he left of his own accord or was kidnapped, it’s clear that neither of them has been honest about who they are.
Algonquin Books | 9781643753409

THE SISTERS WE WERE by Wendy Willis Baldwin (Fiction)
Paperback Original
The weight of their family secrets could not have shaped Pearl and Ruby Crenshaw any differently. Ruby is a runner, living in Dallas and only reluctantly talking to their mother, Birdie, when she calls from prison. Pearl is still living in her mother's fixer-upper and finds herself facing a line in the sand: her weight is threatening to kill her. She's hundreds of pounds beyond the point where she can celebrate her curves or benefit from the body positivity movement, and unless she takes drastic action, the future looks dire. But when Ruby's buried rage explodes in a hilariously viral way, the mistake has life-altering consequences. Now the sisters are back living under the same roof and forced to put the pieces of their separate lives together again.
Sourcebooks Landmark | 9781728258188

TIDES by Sara Freeman (Fiction)
After a sudden, devastating loss, Mara flees her family and ends up adrift in a wealthy seaside town with a dead cell phone and barely any money. Mired in her grief, Mara detaches from the outside world and spends her days of self-imposed exile scrounging for food and swimming in the night ocean. In her state of emotional extremis, the sea at the town's edge is rendered bleak, luminous and implacable. As her money runs out and tourist season comes to a close, Mara finds a job at the local wine store. There, she meets Simon, the shop's soft-spoken, lonely owner. Confronted with the possibility of connection with Simon and the slow return of her desires and appetites, the reasons for her flight begin to emerge.
Grove Press | 9780802162304

WHEN I’M GONE, LOOK FOR ME IN THE EAST by Quan Barry (Fiction)
Tasked with finding the reincarnation of a great lama --- a spiritual teacher who may have been born anywhere in the vast Mongolian landscape --- the young monk Chuluun sets out with his identical twin, Mun, who has rejected the monastic life they once shared. Their relationship will be tested on this journey through their homeland as each possesses the ability to hear the other’s thoughts. Quan Barry carries us across a terrain as unforgiving as it is beautiful and culturally varied. As their country stretches before them, questions of faith --- along with more earthly matters of love and brotherhood --- haunt the twins.
Vintage | 9780525565444

YONDER by Jabari Asim (Historical Fiction)
Cato and William meet at Placid Hall, a plantation in an unspecified part of the American South. Subject to the whims of their tyrannical and eccentric captor, Cannonball Greene, they never know what harm may befall them: inhumane physical toil in the plantation’s quarry by day, a beating by night, or the sale of a loved one at any moment. The latter hurts the reserved and stubborn William, who finds himself falling for Margaret, a small but mighty woman with self-possession beyond her years. And it hurts Cato, whose first love, Iris, was sold off with no forewarning. He now finds solace in his hearty band of friends. But their relationships begin to fray when a visiting minister with a mysterious past starts to fill their heads with ideas about independence.
Simon & Schuster | 9781982163174

January 19th

LITTLE FOLLIES: A Mystery at the Millennium by Carolyn Korsmeyer (Mystery)
Paperback Original
Adam Kasper is a historian delving into the archives of an old museum. Traveling with him is journalist Joan Templeton. Although they have come to Poland together in hopes that their new romance might flourish, Adam's work is all-consuming, and Joan finds better company with Rudy Vander Lage, a lecturer at the university. By chance, they cross paths with Pawel Radincki, a man of unstable mind who hopes to transform his life by means both criminal and occult. Adam's obsession with his research leads him to commit a serious breach of academic protocol. Although their relationship is disintegrating, Joan decides to help him with a bold and risky plan, and she enlists the aid of Rudy. Neither realizes that the risks they take will stymie Pawel's plans and put Joan's life in danger.
Black Rose Writing | 9781685131050

On Sale the Week of January 23rd in Hardcover

January 24th

AFTER SAPPHO by Selby Wynn Schwartz (Historical Fiction)
“The first thing we did was change our names. We were going to be Sappho.” So begins Selby Wynn Schwartz’s debut novel, centuries after the Greek poet penned her lyric verse. Ignited by the same muse, a myriad of women break from their small, predetermined lives for seemingly disparate paths. In 1892, Rina Faccio trades her needlepoint for a pen; in 1902, Romaine Brooks sails for Capri with nothing but her clotted paintbrushes; and in 1923, Virginia Woolf writes, “I want to make life fuller and fuller.” Writing in cascading vignettes, Schwartz spins an invigorating tale of women whose narratives converge and splinter as they forge queer identities and claim the right to their own lives.
Liveright | 9781324092315

ALL HALLOWS by Christopher Golden (Horror/Thriller)
It’s Halloween night, 1984, in Coventry, Massachusetts, and two families are unraveling. Up and down the street, secrets are being revealed. And all the while, mixed in with the trick-or-treaters of all ages, four children who do not belong are walking door to door, merging with the kids of Parmenter Road. Children in vintage costumes with faded, eerie makeup. They seem terrified and beg the neighborhood kids to hide them away, to keep them safe from The Cunning Man. These odd children claim that The Cunning Man is coming for them...and they want the local kids to protect them. But with families falling apart and the neighborhood splintered by bitterness, who will save the children of Parmenter Road?
St. Martin's Press | 9781250280299

THE BIG BUNDLE by Max Allan Collins (Historical Thriller/Mystery)
A millionaire’s son is kidnapped, and private eye Nathan Heller is called in to help. But when half of the record $600,000 ransom goes missing, Heller must wade through a morass of deception and depravity to blow the lid off a notorious crime, the consequences of which reach into the corridors of power in Washington, D.C., where Bobby Kennedy works tirelessly to take down crooked union boss Jimmy Hoffa.
Hard Case Crime | 9781789098525

THE BULLET GARDEN: An Earl Swagger Novel by Stephen Hunter (Historical Thriller)
July, 1944: The lush, rolling hills of Normandy are dotted with a new feature --- German snipers. From their vantage points, they pick off hundreds of Allied soldiers every day, bringing the D-Day invasion to its knees. It’s clear that someone is tipping off these snipers with the locations of American GIs. But who? And how? General Eisenhower demands his intelligence service to find the best shot in the Allied military to counter this deadly SS operation. Enter Pacific hero Earl Swagger, who is assigned this crucial and bloody mission. With crosshairs on his back, Swagger can’t trust anyone as he infiltrates the shadowy corners of London and France for answers.
Atria/Emily Bestler Books | 9781982169763

CHILDREN OF THE STATE: Stories of Survival and Hope in the Juvenile Justice System by Jeff Hobbs (Biography/Social Science)
There has been very little written about juvenile detention and the path to justice. For many kids, a mistake made at age 13 or 14 --- often resulting from external factors coupled with a biologically immature brain --- can resonate through the rest of their lives, making high school difficult, college nearly impossible, and a middle-class life a mere fantasy. Here, in CHILDREN OF THE STATE, Jeff Hobbs challenges any preconceived perceptions about how the juvenile justice system works. He presents three different true stories that show the day-to-day life and the challenges faced by those living and working in juvenile programs: educators, counselors and --- most importantly --- children.
Scribner | 9781982116361

THE DEVIL'S RANSOM: A Pike Logan Novel by Brad Taylor (Thriller/Adventure)
Conducting a routine cover development trip to Tajikistan, Pike Logan and Jennifer learn that Afghanistan has fallen. A man is on the run --- one who has done more for the United States in Afghanistan than anyone else. Pulled in to extract him, Pike collides headlong into a broader mystery: His covert company, along with every other entity in the Taskforce, has been hit with a ransomware attack, and there’s some connection between the Taliban and the hack. Given the order to track down the perpetrators, he has no idea that the problem set is much, much larger and more dangerous than a simple attack on his organization. That hack was just a test-run, and the real one is coming soon, engendered by a former NSA specialist in the U.S. government.
William Morrow | 9780063221987

THE FARAWAY WORLD: Stories by Patricia Engel (Fiction/Short Stories)
Two Colombian expats meet as strangers on the rainy streets of New York City, both burdened with traumatic pasts. In Cuba, a woman discovers that her deceased brother’s bones have been stolen, and the love of her life returns from Ecuador for a one-night visit. A cash-strapped couple hustles in Miami, to life-altering ends. THE FARAWAY WORLD is a collection of arresting stories from the New York Times bestselling author of INFINITE COUNTRY, Patricia Engel. Intimate and panoramic, these stories bring to life the liminality of regret, the vibrancy of community, and the epic deeds and quiet moments of love.
Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster | 9781982159528

THE HOUSE AT THE END OF THE WORLD by Dean Koontz (Science Fiction/Supernatural Thriller)
In retreat from a devastating loss and crushing injustice, Katie lives alone in a fortresslike stone house on Jacob’s Ladder island. Once a rising star in the art world, she finds refuge in her painting. The neighboring island of Ringrock houses a secret: a government research facility. And now two agents have arrived on Jacob’s Ladder in search of someone --- or something --- they refuse to identify. Although an air of menace hangs over these men, an infinitely greater threat has arrived. Katie soon finds herself in an epic and terrifying battle with a mysterious enemy. But she is not alone after all: a brave young girl appears out of the violent squall. Against them is an omnipresent terror that could bring about the end of the world.
Thomas & Mercer | 9781662500442

THE KEEPER OF STORIES by Sally Page (Fiction)
She can't recall what started her collection. Maybe it was in a fragment of conversation overheard as she cleaned a sink? Before long (as she dusted a sitting room or defrosted a fridge), she noticed people were telling her their stories. Perhaps they had always done so, but now the stories are reaching out to her and she gathers them to her. Cleaner Janice knows that it is in people's stories that you really get to know them. When Janice starts cleaning for Mrs. B --- a shrewd and prickly woman in her 90s --- she finally meets someone who wants to hear her story. But Janice is clear: she is the keeper of stories, she doesn't have a story to tell. At least, not one she can share. Mrs. B is no fool and knows there is more to Janice than meets the eye.
Blackstone Publishing | 9798212169882

STAYED ON FREEDOM: The Long History of Black Power Through One Family's Journey by Dan Berger (History)
The Black Power movement, often associated with its iconic spokesmen, derived much of its energy from the work of people whose stories have never been told. STAYED ON FREEDOM brings into focus two unheralded Black Power activists who dedicated their lives to the fight for freedom. Zoharah Simmons and Michael Simmons fell in love while organizing tenants and workers in the South. Their commitment to each other and to social change took them on a decades-long journey that traversed first the country and then the world. In centering their lives, historian Dan Berger shows how Black Power united the local and the global across organizations and generations.
Basic Books | 9781541675360

THIS OTHER EDEN by Paul Harding (Historical Fiction)
In 1792, formerly enslaved Benjamin Honey and his Irish wife, Patience, discover an island where they can make a life together. Over a century later, the Honeys’ descendants and a diverse group of neighbors are desperately poor, isolated and often hungry, but nevertheless protected from the hostility awaiting them on the mainland. During the tumultuous summer of 1912, Matthew Diamond, a retired, idealistic but prejudiced schoolteacher-turned-missionary, disrupts the community’s fragile balance through his efforts to educate its children. His presence attracts the attention of authorities on the mainland who decide to forcibly evacuate the island, institutionalize its residents and develop the island as a vacation destination.
W. W. Norton & Company | 9781324036296

THE TWYFORD CODE by Janice Hallett (Mystery)
Forty years ago, Steven “Smithy” Smith found a copy of a famous children’s book by disgraced author Edith Twyford, its margins full of strange markings and annotations. When he showed it to his remedial English teacher, Miss Iles, she believed that it was part of a secret code that ran through all of Twyford’s novels. And when she disappeared on a class field trip, Smithy became convinced that she had been right. Now, out of prison after a long stretch, Smithy decides to investigate the mystery that has haunted him for decades. But it soon becomes clear that Edith Twyford wasn’t just a writer of forgotten children’s stories. The Twyford Code holds a great secret, and Smithy may just have the key.
Atria Books | 9781668003220

UNRAVELING: What I Learned About Life While Shearing Sheep, Dyeing Wool, and Making the World's Ugliest Sweater by Peggy Orenstein (Memoir)
The COVID pandemic propelled many people to change their lives in ways large and small. Some adopted puppies. Others stress-baked. Peggy Orenstein, a lifelong knitter, went just a little further. To keep herself engaged and cope with a series of seismic shifts in family life, she set out to make a garment from the ground up: learning to shear sheep, spin and dye yarn, then knitting herself a sweater. Orenstein hoped the project would help her process not just wool but her grief over the recent death of her mother and the decline of her dad, the impending departure of her college-bound daughter, and other thorny issues of aging as a woman in a culture that by turns ignores and disdains them. What she didn’t expect was a journey into some of the major issues of our time.
Harper | 9780063081727

WACO: David Koresh, the Branch Davidians, and a Legacy of Rage by Jeff Guinn (True Crime)
Jeff Guinn has penned the definitive account of the disastrous siege at the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas. For the first time in 30 years, more than a dozen former ATF agents who participated in the initial February 28, 1993, raid speak on the record about the poor decisions of their commanders that led to this deadly confrontation. Revelations in this book include why the FBI chose to end the siege with the use of CS gas; how both ATF and FBI officials tried and failed to cover up their agencies’ mistakes; where David Koresh plagiarized his infamous prophecies; and direct links between the Branch Davidian tragedy and the modern militia movement in America. Notorious conspiracist Alex Jones is a part of the Waco story. So much is new, and stunning.
Simon & Schuster | 9781982186104

THE WORLD AND ALL THAT IT HOLDS by Aleksandar Hemon (Historical Fiction)
As the Archduke Franz Ferdinand arrives in Sarajevo one June day in 1914, Rafael Pinto is busy crushing herbs and grinding tablets behind the counter at the pharmacy he inherited from his estimable father. It’s not quite the life he had expected during his poetry-filled student days in libertine Vienna, but it’s nothing a dash of laudanum from the high shelf, a summer stroll and idle fantasies about passersby can’t put in perspective. And then the world explodes. War devours all that they have known, and the only thing Pinto has to live for are the attentions of Osman, a fellow soldier who is his protector and lover. Together, they will escape the trenches, survive near-certain death, and tangle with spies and Bolsheviks.
MCD | 9780374287702

On Sale the Week of January 23rd in Paperback

January 24th

ADMISSIONS: A Memoir of Surviving Boarding School by Kendra James (Memoir)
Early on in Kendra James’ professional life, she began to feel like she was selling a lie. As an admissions officer specializing in diversity recruitment for independent prep schools, she persuaded students and families to embark on the same perilous journey she herself had made --- to attend cutthroat and largely white schools similar to The Taft School, where she had been the first African-American legacy student only a few years earlier. Her new job forced her to reflect on her own elite education experience, and to realize how disillusioned she had become with America’s inequitable system.
Grand Central Publishing | 9781538753507

BEAUTIFUL by Danielle Steel (Fiction)
At age 22, Veronique Vincent is one of the most sought-after models in fashion, gracing the covers of magazines and walking the runways of haute couture shows across the globe. Yet, despite being the consummate professional, Veronique wants little of the glamorous life that modeling affords her. The beloved daughter of a hardworking single mother, she has always preferred spending time at home or with her kindhearted boyfriend to attending lavish parties. When a quick getaway presents a welcome break on the heels of Paris Fashion Week, Veronique is thrilled, eager to escape the mayhem of her busy schedule. Then, out of nowhere, a tragic explosion at Zaventem Airport in Brussels changes her life forever.
Dell | 9781984821669

THE BIG DARK SKY by Dean Koontz (Supernatural Thriller)
As a girl, Joanna Chase thrived on Rustling Willows Ranch in Montana until tragedy upended her life. Now 34 and living in Santa Fe, she begins to receive pleas: I am in a dark place, Jojo. Please come and help me. Heeding the disturbing appeals, Joanna is compelled to return to Montana, and to a strange childhood companion she had long forgotten. People from all walks of life have converged at the remote Montana ranch. They are haunted, on the run, obsessed and seeking answers to the same omniscient danger Joanna came to confront. All the while, on the outskirts of Rustling Willows, a madman lurks with a vision to save the future. Mass murder is the only way to see his frightening manifesto come to pass.
Thomas & Mercer | 9781542019910

THE BROKEN TOWER by Kelly Braffet (Historical Fantasy)
Judah the Foundling chose freedom over betrayal when she leaped from the top of the castle tower. Now she finds herself wandering an unknown forest, far from everything and everyone she loves. For the first time in her life, she’s beyond the great Wall that surrounds Highfall castle. For the first time, she’s alone. But Judah isn’t free. Fiercely sought by those who believe she holds the key to unlocking the power trapped in the world, she must learn to navigate the dangers of an unfamiliar place. She knows that somewhere, her foster brother Gavin is in peril. To save him, not only must she learn to use the new power she discovers inside herself, she must survive.
Mira | 9780778333654

BURNING ROSES by S. L. Huang (Fantasy/Adventure)
Rosa, also known as Red Riding Hood, is done with wolves and woods. Hou Yi the Archer is tired and knows she is past her prime. Both would rather just be retired, but that’s not what the world has ready for them. When deadly sunbirds begin to ravage the countryside, threatening everything they’ve both grown to love, the two must join forces. Now blessed and burdened with the hindsight of middle age, they begin a quest that’s a reckoning of sacrifices made and mistakes mourned, of choices and family and the quest for immortality.
Tordotcom | 9781250879202

CARAMEL PECAN ROLL MURDER: A Hannah Swensen Mystery with Recipes! by Joanne Fluke (Mystery)
Embracing a sweet escape from her usual routine at The Cookie Jar, Hannah Swensen gets asked for her help in baking pastries at the local inn for a flashy fishing competition with big prizes and even bigger names. But the fun stops when she spots a runway boat on the water and, on board, the lifeless body of the event’s renowned celebrity spokesperson. Famed TV show host Sonny Bowman wasn’t humble about his ability to reel in winning catches, and no one knew that better than his tragically overworked sidekick, Joey. Did Joey finally take bloody revenge on his pompous boss --- or was Sonny killed by a jealous contestant?
Kensington | 9781496736093

THE CHASE by Candice Fox (Thriller)
In response to a hostage situation, more than 600 inmates from the Pronghorn Correctional Facility, including everyone on Death Row, are released into the Nevada Desert. John Kradle, convicted of murdering his wife and son, is one of the escapees. Now, desperate to discover what really happened that night, Kradle must avoid capture and work quickly to prove his innocence as law enforcement closes in on the fugitives. Death Row Supervisor, and now fugitive-hunter, Celine Osbourne has focused all of her energy on catching Kradle and bringing him back to Death Row. She has very personal reasons for hating him --- and she knows exactly where he’s heading.
Forge Books | 9781250798848

CITY OF THE DEAD: An Alex Delaware Novel by Jonathan Kellerman (Psychological Thriller)
Early one morning, Homicide Lt. Detective Milo Sturgis and psychologist Alex Delaware find themselves in a neighborhood of pretty houses, pretty cars and pretty people. The scene they encounter is anything but. A naked young man lies dead in the street, the apparent victim of a collision with a moving van hurtling through suburbia in the darkness. But any thoughts of accidental death vanish when a blood trail leads to a nearby home. Inside, a young woman lies butchered. The identity of the male victim and his role in the horror remain elusive, but that of the woman creates additional questions. And adding to the shock, Alex has met her while working a convoluted child custody case.
Ballantine Books | 9780525618607

DAUGHTERS OF VICTORY by Gabriella Saab (Historical Fiction)
Paperback Original
Russia 1917: Svetlana Petrova defied her stifling aristocratic family to join a revolution promising freedom. Now, released after years of imprisonment, she discovers her socialist party vying for power against the dictatorial Bolsheviks and resolves to avenge the death of her beloved uncle, even as she longs to reunite with the daughter she has not seen in years. USSR 1941: Now living in a remote village, Svetlana opens her home to Mila Rozovskaya, the 18-year-old granddaughter she has never met. She hopes to protect Mila from the oncoming Nazi invasion, but when the enemy occupies the village, Svetlana sees the young woman fall under the spell of the resistance. As Mila takes up her fight, dangerous secrets and old enemies soon threaten all that Svetlana holds dear.
William Morrow Paperbacks | 9780063246492

FREE: Coming of Age at the End of History by Lea Ypi (Memoir)
For precocious 11-year-old Lea Ypi, Albania’s Soviet-style socialism held the promise of a preordained future. That is, until she found herself clinging to a stone statue of Joseph Stalin, newly beheaded by student protests. When the early ’90s saw Albania and other Balkan countries exuberantly begin a transition to the “free market,” Western ideals of freedom delivered chaos: a dystopia of pyramid schemes, organized crime and sex trafficking. With her elegant, intellectual, French-speaking grandmother; her radical-chic father; and her staunchly anti-socialist, Thatcherite mother to guide her through these disorienting times, Lea had a political education of the most colorful sort --- here recounted with outstanding literary talent.
W. W. Norton & Company | 9781324050292

GEORGIE, ALL ALONG by Kate Clayborn (Romance)
Paperback Original
When an unexpected upheaval sends longtime personal assistant Georgie Mulcahy away from her hectic job in L.A. and back to her hometown, she must confront an uncomfortable truth: her own wants and needs have always been a disconcertingly blank page. But then she comes across a forgotten artifact --- a “friendfic” diary she wrote as a teenager, filled with possibilities she once imagined. To an overwhelmed Georgie, the diary’s simple, small-scale ideas are a lifeline --- a guidebook for getting started on a new path. Her plans hit a snag, though, when she comes face to face with an unexpected roommate --- Levi Fanning, one-time town troublemaker and current town hermit. But this quiet, grouchy man is more than just his reputation, and he offers to help Georgie with her quest.
Kensington | 9781496737298

GOLIATH by Tochi Onyebuchi (Science Fiction)
In the 2050s, Earth has begun to empty. Those with the means and the privilege have departed the great cities of the United States for the more comfortable confines of space colonies. Those left behind salvage what they can from the collapsing infrastructure. As they eke out an existence, their neighborhoods are being cannibalized. Brick by brick, their houses are sent to the colonies, what was once a home now a quaint reminder for the colonists of the world that they wrecked. A primal biblical epic flung into the future, GOLIATH weaves together disparate narratives into a richly urgent mosaic about race, class, gentrification, and who is allowed to be the hero of any history.
Tordotcom | 9781250814487

GRACE UNDER FIRE by Julie Garwood (Romantic Suspense)
It is supposed to be a quick visit to Boston for the Buchanan anniversary party, then on to Scotland to collect an inheritance. But after getting lost, Grace Isabel MacKenna ends up with a wounded man stumbling into her arms --- and his shooter coming after them both. When she fires back in self-defense, she doesn’t expect him to drop dead. After Isabel endures an interrogation by police, she is free to go, thanks to the Buchanans dispatching former Navy SEAL and now lawyer Michael Buchanan to assist her. Isabel has harbored an extreme dislike for Michael for years, so gratitude is difficult to muster. Michael has appointed himself her de facto guardian, and she’s stuck with him despite their constant bickering and sizzling attraction.
Berkley | 9780593638187

THE GUEST LECTURE by Martin Riker (Fiction)
Paperback Original
Abby, a young feminist economist, is anxious that she is grossly underprepared for a talk she is presenting the next day on optimism and John Maynard Keynes. So she has resolved to practice by using an ancient rhetorical method of assigning parts of her speech to different rooms in her house and has brought along a comforting, albeit imaginary, companion to keep her on track --- Keynes himself. Yet, as she wanders with increasing alarm through the rooms of her own consciousness, Abby finds herself straying from her prepared remarks. Instead she undertakes a quest through her memories to ideas hidden in the corners of her mind as she asks what a better world would look like if we told our stories with more honest and hopeful imaginations.
Black Cat | 9780802160416

ILLOGICAL: Saying Yes to a Life Without Limits by Emmanuel Acho (Self-Help/Inspirational)
You may know Emmanuel Acho as the host of the groundbreaking video series “Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man.” Or as a New York Times bestselling author. Or as an Emmy-winning television broadcaster. Or as a former linebacker for two NFL franchises. What you probably don’t know is that Emmanuel defines his own life with just one word: Illogical. Behind every triumph, every expression of his gifts, Acho has had to ignore what everyone around him called “logic”: the astronomical odds against making it, the risks of continuing to dream bigger or differently. Instead of playing it safe, at every turn Acho has thrown conventional wisdom --- logic --- out the window. Now, in this revelatory book, he’s empowering us all to do the same.
Flatiron Books: An Oprah Book | 9781250836465

THE KAIJU PRESERVATION SOCIETY by John Scalzi (Science Fiction/Adventure)
When COVID-19 sweeps through New York City, Jamie Gray is stuck as a dead-end driver for food delivery apps. That is, until Jamie makes a delivery to an old acquaintance, Tom, who works at what he calls “an animal rights organization.” Tom’s team needs a last-minute grunt to handle things on their next field visit. Jamie immediately signs on. What Tom doesn't tell Jamie is that the animals his team cares for are not here on Earth. In an alternate dimension, massive dinosaur-like creatures named Kaiju roam a warm and human-free world, and they're in trouble. It's not just the Kaiju Preservation Society who have found their way to the alternate world. Others have, too. And their carelessness could cause millions back on our Earth to die.
Tor Books | 9781250878533

LORRAINE HANSBERRY: The Life Behind A Raisin in the Sun by Charles J. Shields (Biography)
Written when she was just 28, Lorraine Hansberry’s landmark “A Raisin in the Sun” is listed by the National Theatre as one of the hundred most significant works of the 20th century. Hansberry was the first Black woman to have a play performed on Broadway, and the first Black and youngest American playwright to win a New York Critics’ Circle Award. Charles J. Shields’ authoritative biography of one of the 20th century’s most admired playwrights examines the parts of Hansberry’s life that have escaped public knowledge: the influence of her upper-class background, her fight for peace and nuclear disarmament, the reason why she embraced Communism during the Cold War, and her dependence on her white husband --- her best friend, critic and promoter.
Holt Paperbacks | 9781250871060

MERMAID CONFIDENTIAL by Tim Dorsey (Mystery/Humor)
Serge A. Storms and his permanently baked sidekick, Coleman, have decided to pump the brakes and live on island time. After years of manic road tripping across their beloved Sunshine State, the irrepressible anti-heroes drop anchor in the Florida Keys. They settle down in Pelican Bay, a thriving condo complex with scenic views and friendly neighbors. But the community is at war with investors who are buying up units and leasing them to young vacationers who party at all hours. Meanwhile, the island chain’s long and rich smuggling heritage is causing mayhem --- a gang war erupts when a local drug lord passes the family business to his young, enterprising son, and the sun-loving residents are suddenly dodging bullets.
William Morrow Paperbacks | 9780062967541

NOTES ON AN EXECUTION by Danya Kukafka (Literary Thriller)
Ansel Packer is scheduled to die in 12 hours. He knows what he’s done and now awaits execution, the same chilling fate he forced on those girls years ago. But Ansel doesn’t want to die; he wants to be celebrated, understood. Through a kaleidoscope of women, we learn the story of Ansel’s life. We meet his mother, Lavender, a 17-year-old girl pushed to desperation; Hazel, twin sister to Ansel’s wife, forced to watch helplessly as her sister’s relationship threatens to devour them all; and Saffy, the detective hot on his trail, who has devoted herself to bringing bad men to justice but struggles to see her own life clearly. As the clock ticks down, these three women sift through the choices that culminate in tragedy.
William Morrow Paperbacks | 9780063052741

SHADOWS OF BERLIN by David R. Gillham (Historical Fiction)
1955 in New York City: the city of instant coffee, bagels at Katz's Deli, new-fangled TVs. But in the Perlmans' walk-up in Chelsea, the past is as close as the present. Rachel came to Manhattan in a wave of displaced Jews who managed to survive the horrors of war. Her Uncle Fritz fleeing with her, Rachel hoped to find freedom from her pain in New York and in the arms of her new American husband, Aaron. But this child of Berlin and daughter of an artist cannot seem to outrun her guilt in the role of American housewife, not until she can shed the ghosts of her past. And when Uncle Fritz discovers the most shocking portrait that her mother had ever painted, Rachel's memories begin to terrorize her, forcing her to face the choices she made to stay alive --- choices that might be her undoing.
Sourcebooks Landmark | 9781728260112

THE SWIMMERS by Julie Otsuka (Fiction)
The swimmers are unknown to one another except through their private routines and the solace each takes in their morning or afternoon laps. But when a crack appears at the bottom of the pool, they are cast out into an unforgiving world without comfort or relief. One of these swimmers is Alice, who is slowly losing her memory. For Alice, the pool was a final stand against the darkness of her encroaching dementia. Without the fellowship of other swimmers and the routine of her daily laps, she is plunged into dislocation and chaos, swept into memories of her childhood and the Japanese American incarceration camp in which she spent the war. Alice's estranged daughter, reentering her mother's life too late, witnesses her stark and devastating decline.
Anchor | 9780593466629

TELL ME AN ENDING by Jo Harkin (Dystopian/Science Fiction)
Across the world, thousands of people are shocked by a notification that they once chose to have a memory removed. Now they are being given an opportunity to get that memory back. Four individuals are filled with new doubts, grappling with the unexpected question of whether to remember unknown events, or to leave them buried forever. Into their lives comes Noor, a psychologist working at the Nepenthe memory removal clinic in London. The process of reinstating patients’ memories begins to shake the moral foundations of her world. As she delves deeper into how the program works, she will have to risk everything to uncover the cost of this miraculous technology.
Scribner | 9781982164331

VIOLETA by Isabel Allende (Historical Fiction)
Violeta comes into the world on a stormy day in 1920. From the start, her life is marked by extraordinary events, for the ripples of the Great War are still being felt, even as the Spanish flu arrives on the shores of her South American homeland almost at the moment of her birth. Through her father’s prescience, the family will come through that crisis unscathed, only to face a new one as the Great Depression transforms the genteel city life she has known. Her family loses everything and is forced to retreat to a wild and beautiful but remote part of the country. There, she will come of age, and her first suitor will come calling. She tells her story in the form of a letter to someone she loves above all others, recounting times of devastating heartbreak and passionate affairs, poverty and wealth, terrible loss and immense joy.
Ballantine Books | 9780593496220

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