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Please note: There will be no "On Sale This Week" newsletter on December 26th as we pause to celebrate the holidays, so we are covering releases from now through the week of January 1st in this edition. Our next newsletter will be sent on January 2nd. Wishing you Happy Holidays and a wonderful New Year!
In this newsletter, you will find books releasing the weeks of December 18th, December 25th and January 1st 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 Reviewer Picks for 2023, where our reviewers reveal their favorite books of the year, and various "Best Of" lists that we've compiled from around the web. Let us know how many print books and e-books you've read, and how many audiobooks you've listened to, in 2023 in our latest poll.
Our last "Bookreporter Talks To" interview of 2023 is with Nita Prose, who talked to Carol Fitzgerald about her latest book, THE MYSTERY GUEST. This is a follow-up to THE MAID, which was a “Good Morning America” Book Club pick when it released in January 2022. Like her debut, THE MYSTERY GUEST is a Bookreporter.com Bets On selection.
Nita shares the challenges of writing a second novel featuring the same character and how she worked to be sure that the story here was as strong as what she delivered in THE MAID. She explains what this book reveals about her character Molly’s background while still moving the story forward. Until recently, Nita was the Editorial Director at Simon & Schuster Canada, and she talks about why she chose to step down from this position to be a full-time writer. Click here to watch the video or here to listen to the podcast.
Please keep in mind our very special End-of-the-Year Contest featuring Carol’s Bets On picks from 2023. One Grand Prize winner will be awarded all 44 books, while 11 other winners will receive four of these titles. To enter, please fill out this form by Friday, January 12th at noon ET.
If you would like to know more about these books, be sure to check out this video and podcast where Carol talks about each of her 44 picks. She called this "a fun trip down memory lane" and said, "I loved the chance to share these books with our readers. I read a lot more; I started others that I did not finish. And there are easily 50 books that I wish I had had time to read. It was such a great year of reading. Many books that I talked about never hit bestseller lists; it was that kind of year. But we trust that our readers know to look beyond those lists for what to read."
Please note: Carol's final four Bets On commentaries of the year are now up. Click on each of the titles for her thoughts on ABSOLUTION by Alice McDermott, THE BERRY PICKERS by Amanda Peters, CLASS: A Memoir of Motherhood, Hunger, and Higher Education by Stephanie Land, and THE OTHER MOTHERS by Katherine Faulkner.
P.S. For those of you who shop online, if you use the store links that appear on our site for shopping, Bookreporter.com gets a small affiliate fee on your purchases from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and IndieBound. As you read our reviews and features, we would appreciate your considering this as you buy!
This Week's Bonus News:
Reviewer Picks for 2023, "Best Of" Lists
from Around the Web, and Our Year-End Poll
Bookreporter.com Reviewers' Favorite Books of 2023
Recently we asked our reviewers to provide us with a list of some of their favorite books from 2023. Included is a mix of fiction and nonfiction titles, all published for the first time this year. Take a moment to read these varied lists of titles and see if you agree with any of their selections! Please note that due to personal and professional commitments, some reviewers were not able to participate in this feature.
As many of you know, eight of these reviewers --- Kate Ayers, Harvey Freedenberg, Pamela Kramer, Rebecca Munro, Eileen Zimmerman Nicol, Ray Palen, Norah Piehl and Stuart Shiffman --- appeared on Zoom recently to talk about their top three books of the year. In case you missed this special “Bookaccino Live” event, you can watch it here or listen to the podcast here. You also can see a list of the titles that they presented, along with the book covers, here.
“Best Of” 2023 Lists from Around the Web
This is the time of year when “Best Of” lists are everywhere. These annual roundups always seem to spark lively discussions among readers as they reflect on their favorite books of the year. Although we at Bookreporter.com don’t have a “Best Of” list of our own, we’ve compiled a number of them for you here. See which of your top picks appear on these lists and which titles you feel should've been included but weren't. Perhaps you’ll even find some books to add to your reading list as we head into the new year!
Bookreporter.com's Year-End Poll
How many print books and e-books did you read in 2023? How many audiobooks did you listen to? Click here to cast your votes!
On Sale the Week of December 18th in Hardcover
December 19th
THE BLACK JOY PROJECT: A Literary and Visual Love Letter to How We Thrive by Kleaver Cruz (Ethnic Studies/Essays)
Black Joy is everywhere. From the bustling streets of Lagos to hip-hop blasting through apartment windows in the Bronx. From the wide-open coastal desert of Namibia to the lush slopes of Jamaica’s Blue Mountains. From the thriving tradition of Candomblé in Bahia to the innovative and trendsetting styles of Soweto, and beyond, Black Joy is present in every place that Black people exist. Now, at last, is a one-of-a-kind celebration of this truth and a life-giving testament to one of the most essential forces that fuels Black life. International in the scale, fist-raising in the prose, and full of gorgeous works by dozens of acclaimed artists, THE BLACK JOY PROJECT does what no other book has ever done. In words and art, it puts joy on the same track as protest and resistance...because that is how life is actually lived.
Mariner Books | 9780358588757
THE WALTZ OF REASON: The Entanglement of Mathematics and Philosophy by Karl Sigmund (History/Mathematics & Philosophy)
“Let no one ignorant of geometry enter here,” Plato warned would-be philosophers. Mathematician Karl Sigmund agrees. In THE WALTZ OF REASON, he shows how mathematics and philosophy together have shaped our understanding of space, chance, logic, cooperation, voting and the social contract. Sigmund shows how game theory is integral to moral philosophy, how statistics shaped the meaning of reason, and how the search for a logical basis for math leads to deep questions about the nature of truth itself. But this is no dry tome: Sigmund’s wit and humor shine as brightly as his erudition.
Basic Books | 9781541602694
On Sale the Week of December 18th in Paperback
December 19th
DIAMONDS AND DEADLINES: A Tale of Greed, Deceit, and a Female Tycoon in New York City’s Gilded Age by Betsy Prioleau (Biography)
For 20 years Miriam Leslie ran the country’s largest publishing company, Frank Leslie Publishing, which chronicled postbellum America in dozens of weeklies and monthlies. A pioneer in an all-male industry, she made a fortune and became a national celebrity and tastemaker in the process. But she also flouted feminine convention, took lovers, married four times, and harbored unsavory secrets that she concealed through a skein of lies and multiple personas. DIAMONDS AND DEADLINES reveals the unknown, sensational life of the brilliant and brazen “empress of journalism,” who dropped a bombshell at her death: She left her entire multimillion-dollar estate to women’s suffrage --- a never-equaled amount that guaranteed passage of the Nineteenth Amendment.
Abrams Press | 9781419770890
LANDSCAPE OF SHADOWS by Kevin Doherty (Historical Thriller)
France, 1941. The small town of Dinon is under German occupation. Max Duval, its mayor, appears to have accepted the German presence and encourages his citizens to do the same. He owns the Hotel Picardie, whose most important resident is Major Egon Wolff --- German commandant. Then a Resistance team kills two German troopers, and the uneasy calm of Dinon is shattered. One of the assassins, the headstrong and beautiful Sophie Carriere, takes refuge in the Hotel Picardie. Despite his disapproval of the assassinations, Max keeps her safe. Sophie accuses Max of conspiring the attacks, but Max is no collaborator --- he has his own secret methods of resistance, which Sophie has now jeopardized.
Oceanview Publishing | 9781608095858
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 | 9781324074526
THE VACATION by John Marrs (Thriller)
Paperback Original
Venice Beach, Los Angeles. A paradise on earth. Tourists flock to the golden coast and the promise of Hollywood. But for eight strangers at a beach-front hostel, there is far more on their minds than an extended vacation. All of them are running from something. And they all have secrets they’d kill to keep.
Hanover Square Press | 9781335006042
On Sale the Week of December 25th in Hardcover
December 26th
WHAT WAITS IN THE WOODS by Terri Parlato (Domestic Thriller)
When Esmé Foster left the Boston suburbs to become a professional ballerina, the future shimmered with promise. Eleven years later, her career has been derailed by an injury, and she knows it’s time to come back to Graybridge to help her brother care for their ailing father. But her return coincides with an unthinkable crime. Kara Cunningham, one of Esme’s high school friends, is found dead in the woods behind the Fosters’ house. Esmé is shocked and grieving, but also uneasy. In her dreams, she still sees the man who showed up at the scene of the car accident that killed her mother --- and told Esmé he was going to kill her too. Family and friends insisted the figure was a product of Esmé’s imagination, that she was concussed after the crash. But she and Kara looked alike. Could Kara’s murder have been a case of mistaken identity?
Kensington | 9781496738592
On Sale the Week of December 25th in Paperback
December 26th
ALL GOOD PEOPLE HERE by Ashley Flowers (Mystery/Thriller)
Two decades ago, six-year-old January Jacobs was discovered in a ditch hours after her family awoke to find her gone. Her killer was never brought to justice. Margot Davies, her next-door neighbor, is now a big-city journalist, but she’s always been haunted by the feeling that she could've suffered the same fate as January. When Margot returns home to help care for her uncle after he's diagnosed with early-onset dementia, she feels like she’s walked into a time capsule. Then news breaks about five-year-old Natalie Clark from the next town over, who’s gone missing under circumstances eerily similar to January’s. With all the old feelings rushing back, Margot vows to find Natalie and solve January’s murder once and for all. But the police, Natalie’s family and the townspeople all seem to be hiding something.
Bantam | 9780593496497
CLIVE CUSSLER FIRE STRIKE: A Novel of the Oregon Files by Mike Maden (Thriller/Adventure)
When Juan Cabrillo is hired to extract an undercover operative in Kenya, he finds himself on the trail of a deadly international plot. A Saudi Prince seeks to unleash a deadly assault on U.S. forces, sparking a new war in the Middle East and ultimately destroying Israel. Cabrillo’s crew have met their most fearsome adversaries yet: a force of bio-hacked soldiers endowed with extreme strength and stamina and an unquenchable appetite for violence. The Oregon team must journey from the Amazon rainforest to an abandoned monastery in Eritrea before a final showdown in the mountains of Yemen, using every shred of courage and cunning they can muster to disable the ship-killer missile before the Arabian Sea becomes a mass grave.
G.P. Putnam’s Sons | 9780593714942
FAMILIA by Lauren E. Rico (Fiction)
Paperback Original
As the fact checker for a popular magazine, Gabby DiMarco believes in absolute, verifiable Truths --- until they throw the facts of her own life into question. The genealogy test she took as research for an article has yielded a baffling result: Gabby has a sister. Except, as Gabby’s beloved parents would confirm if they were still alive, that’s impossible. Isabella Ruiz can still picture the face of her baby sister, who disappeared from the streets of San Juan 25 years ago. Isabella, an artist, has fought hard for the stable home and loving marriage she has today --- yet the longing to find Marianna has never left. At last, she’s found a match, and Gabby has agreed to come to Puerto Rico. But Gabby, as defensive and cautious as Isabella is impulsive, offers no happy reunion. She insists there’s been a mistake.
Kensington | 9781496744647
THE FOXGLOVE KING by Hannah Whitten (Dark Fantasy/Romance)
When Lore was 13, she escaped a cult in the catacombs beneath the city of Dellaire. And in the 10 years since, she’s lived by one rule: don’t let them find you. Easier said than done, when her death magic ties her to the city. Mortem, the magic born from death, is a high-priced and illicit commodity in Dellaire, and Lore’s job running poisons keeps her in food, shelter and relative security. But when a run goes wrong and Lore’s power is revealed, she’s taken by the Presque Mort, a group of warrior-monks sanctioned to use Mortem working for the Sainted King. Entire villages on the outskirts of the country have been dying overnight, seemingly at random. Lore can either use her magic to find out what’s happening and who in the King’s court is responsible, or die.
Orbit | 9780316435093
THE LAST WORD by Taylor Adams (Psychological Thriller)
Emma Carpenter lives in isolation with her golden retriever, Laika, house-sitting an old beachfront home on the rainy Washington coast. Her only human contact is her enigmatic old neighbor, Deek, and (via text) the house’s owner, Jules. One day, she reads a poorly written --- but gruesome --- horror novel by H. G. Kane and posts a one-star review that drags her into an online argument with none other than the author himself. Soon after, disturbing incidents start to occur at night. To Emma, this can’t just be a coincidence. Could he be stalking her? When Emma digs into Kane’s life and work, she learns that he has published 16 other novels, all similarly sadistic tales of stalking and murder. But who is he? How did he find her? And what else is he capable of?
William Morrow Paperbacks | 9780063222908
ON THE PLUS SIDE by Jenny L. Howe (Romantic Comedy)
Paperback Original
Everly Winters is perfectly happy to navigate life like a good neutral paint color: appreciated but unnoticed. That’s why she’s still a receptionist instead of exploring a career in art, why she lurks but never posts on the forums for her favorite makeover show, “On the Plus Side,” and why she’s crushing so hard on her forever-unattainable co-worker. But then someone secretly nominates Everly for the next season of “On the Plus Side.” Overwhelmed by the show’s extremely extroverted hosts, she finds comfort in a surprising friendship with the grumpy but kind cameraman, Logan. Soon Everly realizes that he’s someone she doesn’t mind being noticed by. But when their growing connection is caught on camera, it sends the show’s ratings into a frenzy. Can Everly risk heartbreak with the whole world watching?
St. Martin's Griffin | 9781250837882
PAYBACK IN DEATH by J. D. Robb (Mystery/Thriller)
Lt. Eve Dallas is just home from a long-overdue vacation when she responds to a call of an unattended death. The victim is Martin Greenleaf, retired Internal Affairs Captain. At first glance, the scene appears to be suicide, but the closer Eve examines the body, the more suspicious she becomes. An unlocked open window, a loving wife and family, a too-perfect suicide note --- Eve's gut says it's a homicide. After all, Greenleaf put a lot of dirty cops away during his 47 years in Internal Affairs. It could very well be payback --- and she will not rest until the case is closed.
St. Martin’s Paperbacks | 9781250866127
TWO DEAD WIVES by Adele Parks (Psychological Thriller)
Paperback Original
It's a case that has gripped a nation: A woman with a shocking secret is missing, presumed dead. And her two husbands are suspects in her murder. DCI Clements knows the dark side of human nature and that love can make people do treacherous things. You can’t presume anything when it comes to crimes of the heart. Until a body is found, this scandalous and sad case remains wide open. Stacie Jones lives a quiet life in a small village, nursed by her father as she recovers from illness, and shielded from any news of the outside world. But their reclusive life is about to be shattered. How are these families linked, and can any of them ever rebuild their lives in the wake of tragedy?
Mira | 9780778333579
THE VACATION HOUSE by Jane Shemilt (Psychological Thriller)
Paperback Original
Paxos, Greece. The vacation house is a luxurious getaway for a wealthy English family. One hot summer night, while the parents and their friends drink wine and amuse themselves, a young woman --- the teenage daughter of the Greek caretaker --- ventures for a walk on their private beach. Her life will never be the same again. London, England, 10 years later. Julia is the perfect spouse and mother. But behind her winning smile is a stifled woman trapped in a gilded cage, stricken with anxiety and perfectionism. When Julia meets Laurel, a therapist who promises to help her find fulfillment, Julia opens herself up to the hope of a different future. What happened in Greece all those years ago that binds these two women together? And will uncovering the truth destroy everything…or set them free?
William Morrow Paperbacks | 9780063243583
THE WEEKEND RETREAT by Tara Laskowski (Domestic Thriller/Mystery)
Paperback Original
Every year, the illustrious Van Ness siblings, heirs to a copper fortune, gather at their secluded winery estate for a joint birthday celebration. It's a tradition they've followed nearly all their lives, and now they are back with their significant others for a much-needed weekend of rest and relaxation. The trip should be the perfect escape, but it soon becomes clear that even a remote idyllic getaway can’t keep out the problems simmering in each of their lives. As old tensions are reignited, the three couples are pushed to the edge. Will their secrets destroy them, or will they destroy each other first? And who’s been watching them from beyond the vineyard gates? When a torrential rainstorm hits, plunging them into darkness, the answers prove all too deadly.
Graydon House | 9781525811456
WHAT MOVES THE DEAD by T. Kingfisher (Horror)
When Alex Easton, a retired soldier, receives word that their childhood friend Madeline Usher is dying, they race to the ancestral home of the Ushers in the remote countryside of Ruritania. What they find there is a nightmare of fungal growths and possessed wildlife, surrounding a dark, pulsing lake. Madeline sleepwalks and speaks in strange voices at night, and her brother Roderick is consumed with a mysterious malady of the nerves. Aided by a redoubtable British mycologist and a baffled American doctor, Alex must unravel the secret of the House of Usher before it consumes them all.
Tor Nightfire | 9781250830814
WHERE ARE THE CHILDREN NOW? by Mary Higgins Clark and Alafair Burke (Psychological Thriller/Mystery)
WHERE ARE THE CHILDREN NOW? is the thrilling sequel to WHERE ARE THE CHILDREN?, Mary Higgins Clark’s groundbreaking book that set the stage for future generations of psychological suspense novels. A lawyer turned successful podcaster, Melissa has recently married a man whose first wife died tragically, leaving him and their young daughter, Riley, behind. While Melissa and her brother, Mike, help their mom, Nancy, relocate from Cape Cod to the equally idyllic Hamptons, Melissa’s new stepdaughter goes missing. Drawing on the experience of their own abduction, Melissa and Mike race to find Riley to save her from the trauma they still struggle with --- or worse.
Pocket Books | 9781982189457
WHITE SMOKE: A Victoria Emerson Thriller by John Gilstrap (Political Thriller)
One-time congressional representative Victoria Emerson has received a request from the deposed president of the United States --- come to the bunker at Hilltop Manor, where the remnants of the U.S. government have been imprisoned. A ruthless band has seized power, leaving civilians to die of starvation and untreated injuries. The self-appointed leader, Roger Parsons, plans to punish the former rulers for thrusting the country into Hell Day, the devastating war that changed the world in just a few hours. Victoria is reluctant to leave Ortho, the West Virginia town she has developed and defended. But as a born leader, she feels the call of duty. Forging her way through a landscape terrorized by local warlords and desperate scavengers, she arrives at Hilltop Manor to find a powder keg of battling factions.
Pinnacle | 9780786050123
WORTHY OPPONENTS by Danielle Steel (Romance)
Spencer Brooke always knew she was destined to be CEO of her grandfather’s business --- the most respected and luxurious department store in New York City. She may be the owner of Brooke’s, but she’s also now a divorced single mother of twin boys. And with the ever-evolving landscape of the fashion industry comes new challenges for Spencer and the legacy she’s inherited. Mike Weston is known for making enormous profits by transforming small businesses into bigger, more successful ones. With his marriage at a breaking point, investing is where he thrives. And Brooke’s feels like the perfect opportunity. Yet the firm’s beautiful and savvy CEO turns down the offer before they even meet. But when bad luck strikes, suddenly she is backed into a corner.
Dell | 9781984821829
On Sale the Week of January 1st in Hardcover
January 2nd
ANNA O by Matthew Blake (Psychological Thriller)
Anna Ogilvy was a budding 25-year-old writer with a bright future. Then, one night, she stabbed two people to death with no apparent motive --- and hasn’t woken up since. Dubbed “Sleeping Beauty” by the tabloids, Anna’s condition is a rare psychosomatic disorder known to neurologists as “resignation syndrome.” Dr. Benedict Prince is a forensic psychologist and an expert in the field of sleep-related homicides. His methods are the last hope of solving the infamous “Anna O” case and waking Anna up so she can stand trial. But he must be careful treating such a high-profile suspect --- he has career secrets and a complicated personal life of his own. As Anna shows the first signs of stirring, Benedict must determine what really happened and if Anna should be held responsible for her crimes.
Harper | 9780063314153
THE ASCENT by Adam Plantinga (Thriller)
Kurt Argento is an ex-Detroit street cop who can’t let injustice go. If he sees a young girl being dragged into an alley, he's going to rescue her and cause some damage. When he does just that in a small corrupt Missouri town, he’s brutally beaten and thrown into a maximum-security prison. Julie Wakefield, a grad student who happens to be the governor's daughter, is about to take a tour of the prison. But when a malfunction in the security system releases a horde of prisoners, a fierce struggle for survival ensues. Argento must help a small band of staff and civilians, including Julie and her two state trooper handlers, make their way from the bottom floor to the roof to safety. All that stands in their way are six floors of the most dangerous convicts in Missouri.
Grand Central Publishing | 9781538739877
THE BOOK OF FIRE by Christy Lefteri (Fiction)
In present-day Greece, deep in an ancient forest, lives a family: Irini, a musician, who teaches children to read and play music; her husband, Tasso, who paints pictures of the forest, his greatest muse; and Chara, their young daughter, whose name means joy. On the fateful day that will forever alter the trajectory of their lives, flames chase fleeing birds across the sky. The wildfire that will consume their home, and their lives as they know it, races toward them. Months later, as the village tries to rebuild, Irini stumbles upon the man who started the fire, a land speculator who had intended only a small, controlled burn to clear forestland to build on but instead ignited a catastrophe. He is dying, although the cause is unclear, and in her anger at all he took from them, Irini makes a split-second decision that will haunt her.
Ballantine Books | 9780593497272
FIRST LIE WINS by Ashley Elston (Psychological Thriller)
The identity comes first: Evie Porter. Once she’s given a name and location by her mysterious boss, Mr. Smith, she learns everything there is to know about the town and the people in it. Then the mark: Ryan Sumner. The last piece of the puzzle is the job. Evie isn’t privy to Mr. Smith’s real identity, but she knows this job will be different. Ryan has gotten under her skin, and she’s starting to envision a different sort of life for herself. But Evie can’t make any mistakes --- especially after what happened last time. Because the one thing she’s worked her entire life to keep clean, the one identity she could always go back to --- her real identity --- just walked right into this town. Evie Porter must stay one step ahead of her past while making sure there’s still a future in front of her.
Pamela Dorman Books | 9780593492918
HERE IN AVALON by Tara Isabella Burton (Fiction)
Raised --- and often neglected --- by a wayward mother, Rose finally has built the life she’s always wanted. Her sister Cecilia, on the other hand, has spent her life in pursuit of fairy-tale narratives of transcendence and true love. When Cecilia declares she’s come home for good, following the ending of a whirlwind marriage, Rose hopes Cecilia finally might be ready to face adulthood. But then Cecilia gets involved with the Avalon, a cultish-sounding cabaret troupe, and soon vanishes --- one of a growing number of suspicious disappearances among the city’s lost and loneliest souls. The only way Rose can find Cecilia is by tracking down the Avalon herself. But as Rose gets closer to solving the mystery of what happened to her sister, the Avalon works its magic on her, too.
Simon & Schuster | 9781982170097
A HITCH IN TIME: Reflections Ready for Reconsideration by Christopher Hitchens (Political Science/Essays)
Anthologized here for the first time, A HITCH IN TIME is a choice selection of Christopher Hitchens’ finest reviews, diary entries and essays --- along with a smattering of ferocious letters. Familiar bêtes noires --- Kennedy, Nixon, Kissinger and Clinton --- rub shoulders with lesser-known preoccupations: P.G. Wodehouse, Princess Margaret and, magisterially, Isaiah Berlin. Here is a banquet of entertaining stories ranging from his thoughts on Salman Rushdie to being spanked by Margaret Thatcher in The House of Lords and the night he took his son to the Oscars. The broad scope and high caliber of Hitchens’ essays allows his work to transcend the occasion for which it was written and continues to be essential reading.
Twelve | 9781538757659
MERCURY by Amy Jo Burns (Fiction)
It’s 1990, and 17-year-old Marley West is blazing into the river valley town of Mercury, Pennsylvania. A perpetual loner, she seeks a place at someone’s table and a family of her own. The first thing she sees when she arrives in town is three men standing on a rooftop. The Joseph brothers become Marley’s whole world before she can blink. Soon, she is young wife to one, The One Who Got Away to another, and adopted mother to them all. As their own mother fades away and their roofing business crumbles under the weight of their unwieldy father’s inflated ego, Marley steps in to shepherd these unruly men. Years later, an eerie discovery in the church attic causes old wounds to resurface, and suddenly the family’s survival hangs in the balance.
Celadon Books | 9781250908568
RABBIT HOLE by Kate Brody (Mystery)
Ten years ago, Theodora “Teddy” Angstrom’s older sister, Angie, went missing. Her case remains unsolved. Now Teddy’s father, Mark, has killed himself. Unbeknownst to Mark’s family, he had been active in a Reddit community fixated on Angie, and Teddy can’t help but fall down the same rabbit hole. Teddy’s investigation quickly gets her in hot water with her gun-nut boyfriend, her long-lost half brother, and her colleagues at the prestigious high school where she teaches English. Further complicating matters is Teddy’s growing obsession with Mickey, a charming amateur sleuth who is eerily keen on helping her solve the case. As she struggles to reconcile new information with old memories, Teddy’s erratic behavior reaches a fever pitch, but she won’t stop until she finds Angie.
Soho Crime | 9781641294874
THE STORM WE MADE by Vanessa Chan (Historical Fiction)
Malaya, 1945. Cecily Alcantara’s 15-year-old son, Abel, has disappeared, and her youngest daughter, Jasmin, is confined in a basement to prevent being pressed into service at the comfort stations. Her eldest daughter Jujube, who works at a tea house frequented by drunk Japanese soldiers, becomes angrier by the day. A decade prior, Cecily had been desperate to be more than a housewife to a low-level bureaucrat in British-colonized Malaya. A chance meeting with the charismatic General Fuijwara lured her into a life of espionage, pursuing dreams of an “Asia for Asians.” Instead, Cecily helped usher in an even more brutal occupation by the Japanese. Ten years later, as the war reaches its apex, her actions have caught up with her. Now her family is on the brink of destruction --- and she will do anything to save them.
S&S/Marysue Rucci Books | 9781668015148
THIS PLAGUE OF SOULS by Mike McCormack (Noir/Metaphysical Thriller)
Nealon returns from prison to his house in the West of Ireland to find it empty. No heat or light, no sign of his wife or child. It is as if the world has forgotten or erased him. Then he starts getting calls from a man who claims to know what's happened to his family --- a man who will tell Nealon all he needs to know in return for a single meeting. In a hotel lobby, in the shadow of an unfolding terrorist attack, Nealon and the man embark on a conversation shot through with secrets and evasions, a verbal game of cat and mouse that leaps from Nealon's past and childhood to the motives driving a series of international crimes launched against "a world so wretched it can only be redeemed by an act of revenge."
Soho Press | 9781641295789
UPSIDE DOWN by Danielle Steel (Fiction)
Oscar-winning actress Ardith Law is a Hollywood icon. Radiant at 62, she is the epitome of glamour and a highly respected artist. But her success has come at a price: She has a strained relationship with her daughter, Morgan, who at 38 still blames Ardith for putting her career before being a mother. Morgan is a successful plastic surgeon in New York City --- and the distance from Ardith’s Bel Air mansion is not lost on either of them. As each woman navigates an unconventional romance, they cautiously approach each other on new terms and attempt to put aside their past for a new future.
Delacorte Press | 9780593498378
WILD AND DISTANT SEAS by Tara Karr Roberts (Fiction)
Evangeline Hussey has made a home for herself on Nantucket, though she knows she is still an outsider to the island’s small, close-knit community. Her husband, Hosea, and the life they built together was once all she needed. But now Hosea is gone, lost at sea. Evangeline is only able to hold on to his inn, and her place on the island, by employing a curious gift to glimpse and re-form the recent memories of those who would cast her out. One night, an idealistic sailor appears on her doorstep asking her to call him Ishmael. Yet her careful illusion suddenly begins to fracture. He soon sails away with Ahab to hunt an infamous white whale, and Evangeline is left to forge a new life from the pieces that remain. Her choices ripple through generations, across continents and into the depths of the sea.
W. W. Norton & Company | 9781324064886
On Sale the Week of January 1st in Paperback
January 1st
THE AMISH WIFE: Unraveling the Lies, Secrets, and Conspiracy That Let a Killer Go Free by Gregg Olsen (True Crime)
Paperback Original
In 1977, in an Ohio Amish community, pregnant wife and mother Ida Stutzman perished during a barn fire. The coroner’s report: natural causes. Ida’s husband, Eli, was never considered a suspect. But when he eventually rejected the faith and took his son, Danny, with him, murder followed. The dubious circumstances of the tragic blaze were willfully ignored and Eli’s shifting narratives disregarded. Could Eli’s subsequent cross-country journey of death --- including that of his own son --- have been prevented if just one person came forward with what they knew about the real Eli Stutzman? With the help of aging witnesses and shocking long-buried letters, Gregg Olsen finally uncovers the disturbing truth --- about Ida’s murder and the conspiracy of silence and secrets that kept it hidden for 45 years.
Thomas & Mercer | 9781542016506
January 2nd
AGE OF VICE by Deepti Kapoor (Thriller)
New Delhi, 3 a.m. A speeding Mercedes jumps the curb, and in the blink of an eye five people are dead. It’s a rich man’s car, but when the dust settles there is no rich man at all --- just a shell-shocked servant who cannot explain the strange series of events that led to this crime. Nor can he foresee the dark drama that is about to unfold. Deftly shifting through time and perspective in contemporary India, AGE OF VICE is an epic, action-packed story propelled by the seductive wealth, startling corruption and bloodthirsty violence of the Wadia family --- loved by some, loathed by others, feared by all. In the shadow of lavish estates, extravagant parties, predatory business deals and calculated political influence, three lives become dangerously intertwined.
Riverhead Books | 9780593328804
CHILDREN OF THE STATE: Stories of Survival and Hope in the Juvenile Justice System by Jeff Hobbs (Biography/Social Science)
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. In CHILDREN OF THE STATE, Jeff Hobbs challenges any preconceived perceptions about how the juvenile justice system works --- and demonstrates in brilliant, piercing prose that no one so young should ever be considered irredeemable. 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 | 9781982116378
CODE 6 by James Grippando (Thriller)
Aspiring playwright Kate Gamble is struggling to launch a script she’s been secretly researching her entire life. Her father is Christian Gamble, CEO of Buck Technologies, a private data integration company whose clients include the CIA and virtually every counter-terrorism organization in the Western World. Kate’s father adores her, and a play about the dark side of Big Data would be the ultimate betrayal in his eyes. But Kate is compelled to tell this story --- not only as an artist exploring the personal information catastrophe that affects us all, but as a daughter trying to understand her mother’s apparent loss of purpose. Then Patrick Battle comes back into her life, changing everything she has ever thought about her play, her father and her mother’s tragic death.
Harper Paperbacks | 9780063223806
DRINKING GAMES: A Memoir by Sarah Levy (Memoir)
On paper, Sarah Levy’s life was on track. She was 28, living in New York City, working a great job and socializing every weekend. But Sarah had a secret: her relationship with alcohol was becoming toxic. And only she could save herself. DRINKING GAMES explores the role alcohol has in our formative years and what it means to opt out of a culture completely enmeshed in drinking. It’s an examination of what our short-term choices about alcohol do to our long-term selves and how they challenge our ability to be vulnerable enough to discover what we really want in life.
St. Martin’s Griffin | 9781250841322
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 | 9780063279032
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 | 9780593201275
THE LOST VAN GOGH by Jonathan Santlofer (Thriller)
Paperback Original
For years, there have been whispers that, before his death, Van Gogh completed a final self-portrait. Curators and art historians have savored this rumor, hoping it could illuminate some of the troubled artist's many secrets, but even they have to concede that the missing painting is likely lost forever. But when Luke Perrone, artist and great-grandson of the man who stole the Mona Lisa, and Alexis Verde, daughter of a notorious art thief, discover what may be the missing portrait, they are drawn into a most epic art puzzle. When only days later the painting disappears again, they are reunited with INTERPOL agent John Washington Smith in a dangerous and deadly search that will not only expose secrets of the artist's last days but draw them into one of history's darkest eras.
Sourcebooks Landmark | 9781728258966
LOVE, CLANCY: Diary of a Good Dog by W. Bruce Cameron (Fiction)
You’ve probably never met someone like Clancy. He’s keeping a diary, he’s falling in love, there are rivals for his affections, he lives with his best friend and his worst enemy. Even taken together, these factors are maybe not that unusual, except that Clancy is a dog. His point of view is therefore perhaps…different. A tremendous cast of wonderful characters find themselves jointly and separately navigating the challenges of life, love and…other pets, including Clancy's “worst enemy” --- one very disdainful cat. It’s a lot to keep track of, especially when things start to spin hilariously out of control. But fortunately we have the observations of Clancy, a very good dog, who shares a valuable perspective on what is really important.
Forge Books | 9781250163561
NONFICTION by Julie Myerson (Fiction)
Paperback Original
Two parents stand by powerlessly as their only child seems intent on destroying herself. As the mother --- a novelist --- attempts to understand her daughter, she finds herself revisiting her own uneasy, unresolved relationship with her mother. Weaving between childhoods past and present, laced with temptation and betrayal, NONFICTION is an unflinching account of a mother, daughter, wife and author reckoning with the world around her. But can a writer ever be trusted with the truth of her own story?
Tin House Books | 9781959030317
SMALL WORLD by Laura Zigman (Fiction)
A year after her divorce, Joyce is settling into being single again and has developed a secret comforting hobby: trolling the neighborhood social networking site Small World for posts that help solve life’s easiest problems. When her older sister, Lydia, calls to tell her she’s moving back east after almost 30 years away, Joyce invites Lydia to temporarily move into her Cambridge apartment. But instead of forging the bond she always dreamed of having with Lydia, their relationship frays. And they rarely discuss the loss of their sister, Eleanor, who was significantly disabled and died when she was only 10 years old. When new revelations from their family’s history come to light, will those secrets further split them apart, or course-correct their connection for the future?
Ecco | 9780063088290
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 | 9781250859891
WHERE THE DEAD SLEEP by Joshua Moehling (Mystery/Thriller)
When an early morning call brings Deputy Ben Packard to the scene of a home invasion, he finds Bill Sandersen shot in his bed. Bill was a well-liked local who chased easy money his whole life, leaving bad debts and broken hearts in his wake. As the investigation begins, tragedy strikes the Sheriff's department, forcing Packard to make a difficult choice about his future: step down as acting Sheriff and pursue a quiet life, or subject himself to the scrutiny of an election for the full-time role of Sheriff, a job he's not sure he wants. There's a hidden history to Sandy Lake that Packard can't see. Bad blood and old secrets run deep. But an attempt on Packard's life means he's getting uncomfortably close to the dangerous legacy of the quiet Minnesota town. And someone will do anything to keep it hidden.
Poisoned Pen Press | 9781728290188
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