April 16, 2024

April 16, 2024

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In this newsletter, you will find books releasing the weeks of April 15th and April 22nd 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 special contest for Ann Hood’s upcoming novel, THE STOLEN CHILD. This future Bookreporter.com Bets On title is about an unlikely duo who ventures through France and Italy to solve the mystery of a child’s fate. In anticipation of the book’s May 7th release, we are awarding an advance copy to 25 readers. The deadline for your entries is Friday, April 26th at noon ET.

Upcoming Virtual Book and Author Events

Here are three upcoming virtual book and author events that you may be interested in attending. Click on the links for more info and to register.

Wednesday, April 17th 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 Emily Henry about her new novel, FUNNY STORY, which is the F&F Pick of the Month.

Thursday, April 18th at 3pm ET: Barnes & Noble: Join Barnes & Noble as they welcome Nick Medina for a live virtual discussion of INDIAN BURIAL GROUND as part of their Midday Mystery Virtual Event series. Nick will be in conversation with the bestselling author of SUCH SHARP TEETH, Rachel Harrison.

Monday, April 22nd at 3pm ET: Murder By The Book: Anthony Horowitz will talk to Mystery & Thriller Maven’s Sara DiVello about CLOSE TO DEATH, the ingenious fifth literary whodunit in his Hawthorne and Horowitz series, in which Detective Hawthorne is once again called upon to solve an unsolvable case.

This Week's Bonus News:
Our Special Contest for THE STOLEN CHILD by Ann Hood
Enter to Win One of 25 Advance Copies

On Sale the Week of April 15th in Hardcover

April 16th

A CALAMITY OF SOULS by David Baldacci (Historical/Legal Thriller)
Jack Lee is a white lawyer from Freeman County, Virginia, who has never done anything to push back against racism, until he decides to represent Jerome Washington, a Black man charged with brutally killing an elderly and wealthy white couple. Doubting his decision, Lee fears that his legal skills may not be enough to prevail in a case where the odds are already stacked against both him and his client. Desiree DuBose is a Black lawyer from Chicago who has devoted her life to furthering the causes of justice and equality for everyone. She comes to Freeman County and enters a fractious and unwieldy partnership with Lee in a legal battle against the best prosecutor in the Commonwealth. Yet DuBose is also aware that powerful outside forces are at work to blunt the victories achieved by the Civil Rights era.
Grand Central Publishing | 9781538765029

CLOSE TO DEATH by Anthony Horowitz (Mystery)
Riverside Close is a picture-perfect community. The six exclusive and attractive houses are tucked far away from the noise and grime of city life, allowing the residents to enjoy beautiful gardens, pleasant birdsong and tranquility from behind the security of a locked gate. It is the perfect idyll, until the Kentworthy family arrives, with their four giant, gas-guzzling cars, gaggle of shrieking children, and plans for a garish swimming pool in the backyard. The Kentworthys do not belong in Riverside Close and quickly offend every last one of the neighbors. When Giles Kentworthy is found dead on his own doorstep, a crossbow bolt sticking out of his chest, Detective Hawthorne is the only investigator they can call to solve the case. Because how do you solve a murder when everyone is a suspect?
Harper | 9780063305649

DID I EVER TELL YOU?: A Memoir by Genevieve Kingston (Memoir)
Genevieve (Gwen) Kingston was just 11 years old when her mother passed away, leaving behind a chest filled with gifts and letters to celebrate the milestones of Gwen’s life and each of her birthdays until age 30. When DID I EVER TELL YOU? opens, just three packages remain: engagement, marriage and first baby. Tracing Gwen’s coming-of-age, the book reveals a treasure hunt, with each gift and letter unveiling more about her mother, her family and --- ultimately --- herself. Like CRYING IN H MART by Michelle Zauner and THE LAST LECTURE by Randy Pausch, DID I EVER TELL YOU? is a riveting book filled with unexpected twists and powerful life lessons. Through her mother’s fierce and courageous love, Gwen was granted the tools not only to move through grief but to cherish life.
S&S/Marysue Rucci Books | 9781668006290

EVEREST, INC.: The Renegades and Rogues Who Built an Industry at the Top of the World by Will Cockrell (Travel History/Adventure)
Anyone who has read Jon Krakauer’s INTO THIN AIR or has seen a recent photo of climbers standing in line to get to the top of Everest may think they have the mountain pretty well figured out. It’s an extreme landscape where bad weather and incredible altitude can occasionally kill, but more so an overcrowded, trashed-out recreation destination where rich clients pad their egos --- and social media feeds --- while exploiting local Sherpas. There’s some truth to these clichés, but they’re a sliver of the story. Unlike any book to date, EVEREST, INC. gets to the heart of the mountain through the definitive story of its greatest invention: the Himalayan guiding industry. It all began in the 1980s with a few boot-strapping entrepreneurs who paired raw courage and naked ambition with a new style of expedition planning.
Gallery Books | 9781982190453

THE EVOLUTION OF ANNABEL CRAIG by Lisa Grunwald (Historical Fiction)
Annabel Hayes --- born, baptized and orphaned in the sleepy conservative town of Dayton, Tennessee --- is thrilled to find herself falling quickly and deeply in love with George Craig, a sophisticated attorney newly arrived from Knoxville. But before the end of their first year of marriage, their lives are beset by losses. The strain on their relationship is only intensified when John T. Scopes is arrested for teaching Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution at the local high school. Foreshadowing today’s culture wars, the trial against Scopes is a spectacle unlike any the country has seen. When George joins the team defending Scopes, Annabel begins to question both her beliefs and her vows. As the ongoing trial divides neighbor against neighbor, it also divides the Craigs in unexpected ways.
Random House | 9780593596159

FELINE FATALE: A Mrs. Murphy Mystery by Rita Mae Brown and Sneaky Pie Brown (Mystery)
Mary Minor “Harry” Haristeen’s dear friend, Ned Tucker, is in the House of Delegates, advocating for a bill to improve road clearing during bad weather. Tensions are high between political parties, and no one can agree on anything for long enough to get something done. The bill’s chief detractor is Amanda Fields, a former newscaster turned delegate whose flair for the dramatic has earned her a formidable reputation --- and made her more than a few enemies. Amanda’s claws-out approach to politics might have some of her colleagues wishing she was dead, but the statehouse is rocked when one of the young pages who assists the delegates dies under mysterious circumstances. Could his death be related to the political infighting? Or is something even more sinister threatening the lives of Virginia’s finest representatives?
Bantam | 9780593357637

HONEY by Victor Lodato (Fiction)
As a rebellious teenager, Honey managed to escape her father’s circle of influence and reinvent herself in a world of art and beauty, working for a high-end auction house in Los Angeles. Now in her twilight years, she decides to return home and unexpectedly falls in love. But in her family, nothing has changed. When her grandnephew Michael bursts into her life in what appears to be a drug-fueled frenzy, and her Lexus gets jacked, it’s hard to keep minding her own business. As old cruelties begin to resurface, Honey is no longer sure what she really wants --- to forgive or to avenge.
Harper | 9780063309616

INDIAN BURIAL GROUND by Nick Medina (Supernatural Thriller/Horror)
All Noemi Broussard wanted was a fresh start. With a new boyfriend who actually treats her right and a plan to move from the reservation she grew up on --- just like her beloved Uncle Louie before her --- things are finally looking up for Noemi. Until the news of her boyfriend’s apparent suicide brings her world crumbling down. But the facts about Roddy’s death just don’t add up, and Noemi isn’t the only one who suspects that something menacing might be lurking within their tribal lands. After over a decade away, Uncle Louie has returned to the reservation, bringing with him a past full of secrets, horror and what might be the key to determining Roddy’s true cause of death. Together, Noemi and Louie set out to find answers. But as they get closer to the truth, Noemi begins to wonder if it might be best for some secrets to remain buried.
Berkley | 9780593546888

IT HAD TO BE YOU: An Under Suspicion Novel by Mary Higgins Clark and Alafair Burke (Mystery/Thriller)
The two identical brothers seemed perfect in every way --- handsome, intelligent, popular --- until a shocking summer night when one brother killed his parents in cold blood while the other brother had an iron-clad alibi. But which twin was where during the murders? And is it possible the two of them planned the perfect crime together? Years later, the twins are long estranged, each of them claiming to be convinced that the other is responsible for the death of their parents. Married now with children of their own, they may finally be ready to clear one name at the expense of the other and turn to Laurie Moran and her team to reinvestigate their parents’ murder. But as the Under Suspicion crew gets closer to the truth, the danger that was assumed to be left in the past finds its way into the present.
Simon & Schuster | 9781982132576

KNIFE: Meditations After an Attempted Murder by Salman Rushdie (Memoir)
Speaking out for the first time, and in unforgettable detail, about the traumatic events of August 12, 2022, Salman Rushdie answers violence with art and reminds us of the power of words to make sense of the unthinkable. KNIFE is a gripping, intimate and ultimately life-affirming meditation on life, loss, love, art --- and finding the strength to stand up again.
Random House | 9780593730249

MY BELOVED MONSTER: Masha, the Half-wild Rescue Cat Who Rescued Me by Caleb Carr (Memoir)
Caleb Carr has had special relationships with cats since he was a young boy in a turbulent household, where his steadiest companions were the adopted cats that lived with him in both the city and the country. As an adult, he has had many close feline companions, with relationships that have outlasted most of his human ones. But only after building a three-story home in rural, upstate New York did he enter into the most extraordinary of all of his cat pairings: Masha, a Siberian Forest cat who had been abandoned as a kitten and was languishing in a shelter when Caleb met her. She had hissed and fought off all previous carers and potential adopters, but somehow she chose Caleb as her savior. For the 17 years that followed, Caleb and Masha were inseparable.
Little, Brown and Company | 9780316503600

NEGATIVE SPACE by Gillian Linden (Fiction)
NEGATIVE SPACE follows a week in the life of an English teacher at a New York private school. At home, her two increasingly restless children ask constant questions about mortality and find hidden wisdom in the cartoons they watch on television. Her husband tends to his plants and offers occasional counsel between Zoom calls to Hong Kong and Australia. And at school, as she navigates the currents between wealthy, increasingly disconnected students and bewildered faculty, she accidentally witnesses an ambiguous, possibly inappropriate interaction between a teacher and a student. She feels compelled to say something, but how can she be sure of what she saw?
W. W. Norton & Company | 9781324065548

NEVER SAY YOU'VE HAD A LUCKY LIFE: Especially If You've Had a Lucky Life by Joseph Epstein (Autobiography)
An autobiography usually requires a justification. The great autobiographies --- those by Benvenuto Cellini, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Benjamin Franklin and Henry Brooks Adams --- were justified by their authors living in interesting times, harboring radically new ideas or participating in great events. Joseph Epstein qualifies on none of these counts. His life has been quiet, lucky in numerous ways and far from dramatic. But it also has been emblematic of the great changes in our country since World War II. NEVER SAY YOU'VE HAD A LUCKY LIFE is an intimate look at one life steeped in radical change: from a traditionally moral culture to a therapeutic one, from an era when the extended family was strong to its current diminished status, from print to digital life featuring the war of pixel on print, and on.
Free Press | 9781668009635

NOTHING BUT THE BONES by Brian Panowich (Thriller)
In McFalls County, local crime boss Gareth Burroughs runs everything on the mountain. And Nelson “Nails” McKenna has been his enforcer since he was a teenager, though his heart is not really in the dirty work. Then one night in a local roadhouse, Nails goes too far, defending a woman, and even Burroughs’ reach can’t get him out of this one. With a dead body and countless witnesses, Nails and the woman become fugitives on the run, and unlikely partners. But on the road to Jacksonville, where a possible escape awaits, there’s more than one interested party on the pair’s trail, and the glimpse they had of getting away scot-free suddenly seems elusive. In the end, Nails must make one final stand for his freedom --- or pay with both of their lives.
Minotaur Books | 9781250835246

PAY DIRT: A V.I. Warshawski Novel by Sara Paretsky (Mystery)
V.I. Warshawski’s friends send her to Kansas for a weekend of college basketball where Angela, one of her protégées, is playing. Sabrina, one of Angela’s roommates, disappears, and V.I. agrees to try to find her. Finding a missing person in a city where she knows few people and doesn’t have her trusted contacts is hard, but not as hard as the brutally negative reaction to the detective from some of the locals. When V.I. finds Sabrina close to death in a remote house, she lands herself in the FBI’s crosshairs and faces a violent online backlash. The men running the county’s opioid distribution are also not happy. Discovering a dead body in the same house a few days later, V.I. is pitched headlong into a local land-use battle with roots going back to the Civil War.
William Morrow | 9780063010932

AN UNFINISHED LOVE STORY: A Personal History of the 1960s by Doris Kearns Goodwin (Memoir/History)
Dick and Doris Goodwin were married for 42 years --- and married to American history even longer. In his 20s, Dick was one of the brilliant young men of John F. Kennedy’s New Frontier. In his 30s, he both named and helped design Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society and was a speechwriter and close advisor to Robert Kennedy. Doris Kearns was a 24-year-old graduate student when selected as a White House Fellow. She worked directly for Lyndon Johnson and later assisted on his memoir. The Goodwins’ last great adventure involved finally opening the more than 300 boxes of letters, diaries, documents and memorabilia that Dick had saved for more than 50 years. They soon realized they had before them an unparalleled personal time capsule of the 1960s, illuminating public and private moments of a decade when individuals were powered by the conviction that they could make a difference.
Simon & Schuster | 9781982108663

YOU KNOW WHAT YOU DID by K. T. Nguyen (Psychological Thriller)
Annie “Anh Le” Shaw grew up poor but seems to have it all now: a dream career, a stunning home, and a devoted husband and daughter. When Annie’s mother, a Vietnam War refugee, dies suddenly one night, Annie’s carefully curated life begins to unravel. Her obsessive-compulsive disorder comes roaring back. But this time, the disturbing fixations swirling around in Annie’s brain might actually be coming true. A prominent art patron disappears, and the investigation zeroes in on Annie. Spiraling with self-doubt, she distances herself from her family and friends, only to wake up in a hotel room --- naked, next to a lifeless body. The police have more questions, but with her mind increasingly fractured, Annie doesn’t have answers. All she knows is this: She will do anything to protect her daughter --- even if it means losing herself.
Dutton | 9780593473856

On Sale the Week of April 15th in Paperback

April 15th

TITANIC: Sinking the Myths by D. E. Bristow, with a new preface by Ryan Katzenbach (History)
30th Anniversary Edition
In over 100 years, there have been literally thousands of books written on the catastrophic maiden voyage of the RMS Titanic. Yet questions still persist about that fateful night. Thirty years ago, in this book’s first edition, Diana Bristow unraveled the myths and lies to give the original, no-stone-unturned account of the events that led up to --- and followed --- the sinking of the Titanic. Bristow goes right to the heart and source of the campaign of deception that served only one purpose: to protect J.P. Morgan, the White Star Line and all their investors from astronomical liability and financial ruin if the captain, crew or management were found negligent in the events that led to the sinking of the Titanic. Bristow’s long-sought-after book, out of print for 30 years, is now presented here in an updated edition.
Genius Book Publishing | 9781958727263

April 16th

ANNE BOLEYN & ELIZABETH I: The Mother and Daughter Who Forever Changed British History by Tracy Borman (History)
The future Queen Elizabeth was not yet three when her mother, Anne Boleyn, was beheaded on May 19, 1536, on Henry’s order, incensed that she had not given him a son and tired of her contentious nature. Elizabeth had been raised away from court, rarely even seeing Anne. After her death, Henry tried in every way to erase Anne’s presence and memory. At that moment in history, few could have predicted that mother and daughter would each leave enduring, and interlocked, legacies. Yet as Tracy Borman reveals in this first-ever joint portrait, both women broke the mold for British queens and for women in general at the time.
Grove Press | 9780802163318

THE BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE by Michelle Gable (Historical Fiction)
Paperback Original
It’s 1961, and Margo Hightower has just been hired as assistant to photographer Slim Aarons, who is famous for his vibrant pictures of high society, royalty and Hollywood stars. From the bright beaches of Acapulco to glitzy parties in New York, Margo is thrown headfirst into the glamorous jet-set world she so covets, observing its ways from behind the camera as Slim’s sidekick. But when they land in Palm Beach, a scene with few rules and many riches, the lines between work and play begin to blur. As Margo becomes swept up in the city’s social circle --- and into a friendship with heiress and rising fashion designer Lilly Pulitzer --- the golden life seems increasingly in reach. Until she finds herself entangled in a complicated web of loyalties and secrets that could bring it all crashing down.
Graydon House | 9781525805035

BITING THE HAND: Growing Up Asian in Black and White America by Julia Lee (Memoir)
When Julia Lee was 15, her hometown went up in smoke during the 1992 Los Angeles riots. The daughter of Korean immigrant store owners in a predominantly Black neighborhood, Julia was taught to be grateful for the privilege afforded to her. However, the acquittal of four white police officers in the beating of Rodney King, following the murder of Latasha Harlins by a Korean shopkeeper, forced Julia to question her racial identity and complicity. She was neither Black nor white. So who was she? This question would follow Julia for years to come. It was only when she began a PhD in English that she found answers --- not in the Brontës or Austen, as Julia had planned, but rather in the brilliant prose of writers like James Baldwin and Toni Morrison.
Holt Paperbacks | 9781250861573

BLANK PAGES: And Other Stories by Bernard MacLaverty (Fiction/Short Stories)
Tinged with melancholy but rooted in resiliency, the exquisite stories in Bernard MacLaverty’s BLANK PAGES display the perseverance of the human spirit. In “A Love Picture,” a middle-aged woman, already no stranger to loss, consults a World War II newsreel to determine the fate of her son. “Blackthorns” tells of a poor, out-of-work Catholic man who falls gravely ill in the sectarian Northern Ireland of 1942 but is brought back from the brink by an unlikely savior. The harrowing but transcendent “The End of Days” imagines life in another pandemic as artist Egon Schiele and his wife, both stricken with the Spanish flu, spend their final days together. And in the poignant title story, an elderly writer takes stock of what remains after losing his life partner.
W. W. Norton & Company | 9781324074656

A BOOK OF DAYS by Patti Smith (Memoir)
In 2018, without any plan or agenda for what might happen next, Patti Smith posted her first Instagram photo: her hand with the simple message “Hello Everybody!” Known for shooting with her beloved Land Camera 250, Smith started posting images from her phone, including portraits of her kids, her radiator, her boots and her Abyssinian cat, Cairo. Followers felt an immediate affinity with these miniature windows into Smith’s world. Over time, a coherent story of a life devoted to art took shape, and more than a million followers responded to Smith’s unique aesthetic in images that chart her passions, devotions, obsessions and whims. In wide-ranging yet intimate daily notations, Smith shares dispatches from her travels around the world.
Random House Trade Paperbacks | 9780593730386

BROWN BOY: A Memoir by Omer Aziz (Memoir)
In a tough neighborhood on the outskirts of Toronto, Omer Aziz struggles to find his place as a first-generation Pakistani Muslim boy. He fears the violence and despair of the world around him, and sees a dangerous path ahead. In his senior year of high school, Omer quickly begins to realize that education can open up the wider world. He searches for community and identity, asking questions of himself and those he encounters, and soon finds himself in difficult situations. Yet the more books Omer reads and the more he moves through elite worlds, his feelings of shame and powerlessness only grow stronger, and clear answers recede further away. In BROWN BOY, Aziz wrestles with the contradiction of feeling like an Other and his desire to belong to a Western world that never quite accepts him.
Scribner | 9781982136321

CHRISTA COMES OUT OF HER SHELL by Abbi Waxman (Fiction/Humor)
Paperback Original
After a tumultuous childhood, Christa Liddle has hidden away, both figuratively and literally. Happily studying sea snails in the middle of the Indian Ocean, Christa finds her tranquil existence thrown into chaos when her once-famous father --- long thought dead after a plane crash --- turns out to be alive, well and ready to make amends. The world goes wild, fascinated by this real-life saga, pinning Christa and her family under the spotlight. As if that weren’t enough, her reunion with an old childhood friend reveals an intense physical attraction neither was expecting and both want to act on…if they can just keep a lid on it. When her father’s story starts to develop cracks, Christa fears she will lose herself, her potential relationship, and any chance of making it back to her snails before they forget her completely.
Berkley | 9780593198780

THE CRADLE OF ICE by James Rollins (Fantasy/Adventure)
To stop the coming apocalypse, a fellowship was formed. A soldier, a thief, a lost prince and a young girl bonded by fate and looming disaster. Each step along this path has changed the party, forging deep alliances and greater enmities. All the while, hostile forces have hunted them, fearing what they might unleash. Armies wage war around them. For each step has come with a cost --- in blood, in loss, in heartbreak. Now they must split, traveling into a vast region of ice and to a sprawling capital of the world they’ve only known in stories. Time is running out, and only the truth will save us all.
Tor Books | 9781250766762

DOWNFALL by Mark Rubinstein (Psychological Thriller/Mystery)
When Rick Shepherd, a physician, approaches his office on a busy Manhattan street, he finds police cars, an ambulance and crime scene technicians. He soon learns that a passerby was shot three times in the back, murdered at the front door to Rick’s office. Later that evening, while watching the local news, Rick and his fiancee, Jackie, see a photo of the victim --- to their horror, the deceased looks identical to Rick. Two nights later, Rick’s father is shot and killed in the exact same way. Detectives Art Nager and Liz Callaghan launch an investigation. There are no clues leading to the perpetrator. Even more ominously, someone has been calling Rick and Jackie’s apartment and hanging up. Whoever is targeting Rick must have murdered his father, and they now have Rick in their crosshairs.
Oceanview Publishing | 9781608096084

THE FINDERS KEEPERS LIBRARY by Annie Rains (Romance)
Paperback Original
A gardener blessed with a green thumb, Savannah Collins heads to Bloom, North Carolina, to spend the summer with her beloved Aunt Eleanor, a retired librarian. Her aunt shares her love of literature with the Finders Keepers Library, located in her beautiful garden, where anyone can stop by to pick a book or leave a book. When a sudden summer storm destroys the library and many of the roses, it will take a village to get everything ready for the garden wedding that is planned there in just three weeks. As the entire town joins in to make the necessary repairs, Savannah bonds with their neighbor Evan Sanders over the books that Eleanor has handpicked for each of them, helping them both find healing and self-discovery.
Forever | 9781538710111

FIRE RUSH by Jacqueline Crooks (Fiction)
Yamaye goes raving with her friends at The Crypt, an underground dub reggae club. Raised by her distant father after her mother’s disappearance when she was a girl, Yamaye craves the oblivion of sound --- a chance to escape into the rhythms of those smoke-filled nights, to discover who she really is in the dance-hall darkness. When Yamaye meets Moose, a soulful carpenter who shares her Jamaican heritage, a path toward a different kind of future seems to open. But then Babylon rushes in. In a devastating cascade of violence that pits state power against her loved ones and her community, Yamaye loses everything. Friendless and adrift, she embarks on a dramatic journey of transformation that ultimately takes her to Jamaica, where past and present collide with explosive consequences.
Penguin Books | 9780593300558

A FONDNESS FOR TRUTH: A Polizei Bern Novel by Kim Hays (Mystery)
Paperback Original
Andi Eberhart is riding her bicycle home on an icy winter night when she is killed in a hit-and-run. Her devastated partner, Nisha, is convinced the death was no accident. Andi had been receiving homophobic hate mail for several years, and the letters grew uglier after the couple’s baby was born. Bern homicide detective Giuliana Linder is assigned to investigate what happened to Andi. As she pieces together the details of Andi and Nisha’s lives, her assistant Renzo Donatelli looks into Andi’s job advising young men drafted into Switzerland’s civilian service. Giuliana and Renzo are again tempted to become more than just friendly colleagues. As both detectives dig into Andi’s life, one thing becomes clear: Andi’s friends and family may have loved her for her honesty, but her outspokenness threatened others --- perhaps enough to get rid of her.
Seventh Street Books | 9781645060833

THE FOURTH ENEMY: A Daniel Pitt Novel by Anne Perry (Historical Mystery)
Working his way up at the London law firm fford Croft and Gibson, Daniel Pitt is named junior counsel on a fraud case with the potential to make or break his --- and the firm’s --- reputation. The trouble is that Malcolm Vayne, the man on trial, has deep pockets and even deeper connections. Vayne’s philanthropic efforts paint him a hero in the eyes of the public, but Daniel’s friend Ian, a police officer, has evidence to suggest otherwise. Nervously working alongside Gideon Hunter, the new head of his firm, Daniel must find a way to prove that Vayne is guilty. Vayne’s trial reveals his deep political ambitions, and it heats up further when a crucial witness is found dead. When another witness is kidnapped, Daniel must set out on a rescue mission that puts his life --- and the case against Vayne --- in peril.
Ballantine Books | 9780593359143

I USED TO LIVE HERE ONCE: The Haunted Life of Jean Rhys by Miranda Seymour (Biography)
Jean Rhys is one of the most compelling writers of the 20th century. Memories of her Caribbean girlhood haunt the four short and piercingly brilliant novels that Rhys wrote during her extraordinary years as an exile in 1920s Paris and later in England, a body of fiction --- above all, the extraordinary Wide Sargasso Sea --- that has a passionate following today. And yet her own colorful life, including her early years on the Caribbean island of Dominica, remains too little explored, until now. In I USED TO LIVE HERE ONCE, Miranda Seymour sheds new light on the artist whose proud and fiercely solitary life profoundly informed her writing.
W. W. Norton & Company | 9781324074595

A KIND OF MADNESS: Stories by Uche Okonkwo (Fiction/Short Stories)
Paperback Original
A teenage girl from a poor family is dazzled by her rich, vivacious friend. But as the friend’s behavior grows unstable and dangerous, she must decide whether to cover for her or risk telling the truth to get her the help she needs. A young woman and her mother bask in the envy of their neighbors when the woman receives an offer of marriage from the family of a doctor living in Belgium --- though when the offer fails to materialize, that envy threatens to turn vicious. And a lonely daughter finds herself wandering a village in eastern Nigeria in an ill-fated quest, struggling to come to terms with her mother’s mental illness. Set in contemporary Nigeria, the 10 stories in A KIND OF MADNESS unravel the tensions between mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, best friends, siblings and more.
Tin House Books | 9781959030386

THE LIGHT PIRATE by Lily Brooks-Dalton (Fiction)
As devastating weather patterns and rising sea levels wreak gradual havoc on Florida’s infrastructure, a powerful hurricane approaches a small town on the southeastern coast. Kirby Lowe, an electrical line worker; his pregnant wife, Frida; and their two sons prepare for the worst. When the boys go missing just before the hurricane hits, Kirby heads out into the high winds in search of them. Left alone, Frida goes into premature labor and gives birth to an unusual child, Wanda, whom she names after the catastrophic storm that ushers her into a society closer to collapse than ever before. As Florida continues to unravel, Wanda grows. She loses family, gains community, and seeks adventure, love and purpose in a place remade by nature.
Grand Central Publishing | 9781538708286

THE LIGHT WE CARRY: Overcoming in Uncertain Times by Michelle Obama (Memoir/Personal Growth)
There may be no tidy solutions or pithy answers to life’s big challenges, but Michelle Obama believes that we can all locate and lean on a set of tools to help us better navigate change and remain steady within flux. In THE LIGHT WE CARRY, she opens a frank and honest dialogue with readers, considering the questions many of us wrestle with: How do we build enduring and honest relationships? How can we discover strength and community inside our differences? What tools do we use to address feelings of self-doubt or helplessness? What do we do when it all starts to feel like too much? Obama believes that when we light up for others, we can illuminate the richness and potential of the world around us, discovering deeper truths and new pathways for progress.
Crown | 9780593237489

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 | 9781250322906

THE MURDER INN by James Patterson and Candice Fox (Thriller)
Paperback Original
When ex-cop Bill Robinson takes over The Inn by the Sea, all he wants is a quiet escape from the city. But when a crime boss moves into town and begins terrorizing Bill's friends, he can't just sit back and watch. It's not long before local criminals are turning up dead and The Inn comes under attack. With the help of The Inn's fearless residents, Bill must do everything he can to defend his town, his chosen family and his home.
Grand Central Publishing | 9781538710944

NORMAL RULES DON’T APPLY: Stories by Kate Atkinson (Fiction/Short Stories)
In NORMAL RULES DON’T APPLY, nothing is quite as it seems. We meet a queen who makes a bargain she cannot keep; a secretary who watches over the life she has just left; a lost man who bets on a horse that may --- or may not --- have spoken to him. Everything that readers love about the novels of Kate Atkinson is here: the inventiveness, the verbal felicity, the sharp observations of human nature, and the deeply satisfying emotional wallop.
Vintage | 9780593469880

ONE OF US KNOWS by Alyssa Cole (Psychological Thriller)
Paperback Original
Years after a breakdown and a diagnosis of dissociative identity disorder derailed her historical preservationist career, Kenetria Nash and her alters have been given a second chance: a position as resident caretaker of a historic home. Having been dormant for years, Ken has no idea what led them to this isolated Hudson River island. Then a surprise visit from the home’s conservation trust just as a Nor’easter bears down on the island disrupts her newfound life, leaving Ken trapped with a group of possibly dangerous strangers --- including the man who brought her life tumbling down years earlier. When he turns up dead, Ken is the prime suspect. Caught in a web of secrets and in a race against time, Ken and her alters must band together to prove their innocence and discover the truth of Kavanaugh Island --- and their own past.
William Morrow Paperbacks | 9780063114951

SATURDAY NIGHT AT THE LAKESIDE SUPPER CLUB by J. Ryan Stradal (Fiction)
Mariel Prager’s husband, Ned, is having an identity crisis; her spunky, beloved restaurant is bleeding money by the day; and her mother, Florence, is stubbornly refusing to leave the church where she’s been holed up for more than a week. The Lakeside Supper Club has been in her family for decades, and while Mariel’s grandmother embraced the business, Florence never took to it. When Mariel inherited the restaurant, skipping Florence, it created a rift between mother and daughter that never quite healed. Ned is also an heir --- to a chain of home-style diners --- and knows his family's chain could provide a better future than his wife's fading restaurant. In the aftermath of a devastating tragedy, Ned and Mariel lose almost everything they hold dear, and the hard-won victories of each family hang in the balance.
Penguin Books | 9781984881090

SILVER ALERT by Lee Smith (Fiction)
Herb’s charmed life with his dear wife, Susan, in their Key West house is coming undone. Susan now needs constant care, and Herb is in denial about his own ailing health. The one bright spot is the arrival of an endlessly optimistic manicurist calling herself Renee. But then Herb and Susan’s adult children arrive to stage an intervention with their stubborn, independent father. As a consequence, Renee’s gig with Susan --- and her grand plans for her own life --- start to unravel as well. Herb isn't ready to let go of all that he has ever had, and it turns out that Renee is not the happy, uncomplicated girl she pretends to be. She is not even Renee; she is really Dee Dee, and she, too, has reasons of her own to hit the road. So when Herb suggests one last joy ride in his Porsche with Dee Dee riding shotgun, they take off for parts north, setting off a Silver Alert.
Algonquin Books | 9781643755809

STANDING IN THE SHADOWS: A DCI Banks Novel by Peter Robinson
(Mystery/Thriller)
In November 1980, Nick Hartley returns home from a university lecture to find his house crawling with police. His ex-girlfriend, Alice Poole, has been found murdered, and her new boyfriend is missing. Nick is the prime suspect. The case quickly goes cold, but Nick cannot let it go. He embarks on a career in investigative journalism, determined to find Alice’s murderer --- but his obsession leads him down a dangerous path. Decades later, in November 2019, an archaeologist unearths a skeleton that turns out to be far more contemporary than the Roman remains she is seeking. Detective Superintendent Alan Banks and his team are called in to investigate, but there is little to be gleaned from the remains themselves. As the two cases unfurl, the investigations twist and turn to an explosive conclusion.
William Morrow Paperbacks | 9780062995001

THE STAR AND THE STRANGE MOON by Constance Sayers (Historical Fantasy)
1968: Actress Gemma Turner is on the cusp of obscurity. When she’s offered the lead in a radical new horror film, she believes her luck has changed. But her dream is about to turn into a nightmare. One night, Gemma disappears on set and is never seen again. She’s been pulled into the film. And the script --- and the monsters within it --- are coming to life. 2007: Gemma Turner’s disappearance is one of Hollywood’s greatest mysteries --- one that’s captivated film student Christopher Kent ever since he saw L’Étrange Lune for the first time. The screenings only happen once a decade, and each time there is new, impossible footage of Gemma that shouldn’t exist. Curiosity drives Christopher to unravel the truth. But answers to the film’s mystery may leave him trapped by it forever.
Redhook | 9780316493758

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 | 9781982186111

THE WEEDS by Katy Simpson Smith (Fiction)
A Mississippi woman pushes through the ruin of the Roman Colosseum, searching for plants. Crawling along the stones, she wonders how she has landed here, a reluctant botanist amid a snarl of tourists. In 1854, a woman pushes through the jungle of the Roman Colosseum, searching for plants. As punishment for her misbehavior, she has been indentured to the English botanist Richard Deakin, for whom she will compile a flora. If only the woman she loves weren’t on a boat, with a husband. Through a list of seemingly minor plants and their uses, these women calculate intangible threats: a changing climate, the cost of knowledge, and the ways repeated violence can upend women’s lives. They must forge their own small acts of defiance and slip through whatever cracks they find.
Picador | 9781250321770

WHAT REMAINS by Wendy Walker (Psychological Thriller)
Detective Elise Sutton is a forensics expert with a knack for solving cold cases and a deep knowledge of the criminal mind. She prides herself on being rational and in control, until a crisis at a department store leaves her steeped in guilt and self-doubt about whether or not she did the right thing to save a man's life. Elise is hailed as a hero, but she doesn't feel like one. She soon grows numb, even to her husband and daughters, as she sets out to find the one man who might know the truth. When she finds him --- or did he find her? --- their connection sets off a terrifying game of cat and mouse, threatening Elise and the people she loves most.
Blackstone Publishing | 9798212876926

On Sale the Week of April 22nd in Hardcover

April 23rd

ALL THAT HAPPINESS IS: Some Words on What Matters by Adam Gopnik (Self-Help/Personal Growth)
Our society is obsessed with achievement. Young people are pushed toward the next test or the “best” grammar school, high school or college they can get into. Adults push themselves toward the highest-paying, most prestigious jobs, seeking promotions and public recognition. As Adam Gopnik points out, the result is not so much a rat race as a rat maze, with no way out. Except one: to choose accomplishment over achievement. Achievement, Gopnik argues, is the completion of the task imposed from outside. Accomplishment, by contrast, is the end point of an engulfing activity one engages in for its own sake. In ALL THAT HAPPINESS IS, Gopnik demonstrates that while self-directed passions sometimes do lead to a career, the contentment that flows from accomplishment is available to each of us.
Liveright | 9781324094852

THE BACKYARD BIRD CHRONICLES written and illustrated by Amy Tan
(Nature/Memoir)
In 2016, Amy Tan grew overwhelmed by the state of the world: Hatred and misinformation became a daily presence on social media, and the country felt more divisive than ever. In search of peace, Tan turned toward the natural world just beyond her window and, specifically, the birds visiting her yard. But what began as an attempt to find solace turned into something far greater --- an opportunity to savor quiet moments during a volatile time, connect to nature in a meaningful way, and imagine the intricate lives of the birds she admired.
Knopf | 9780593536131

CIRCLE IN THE WATER: A Sharon McCone Mystery by Marcia Muller (Mystery)
San Francisco is home to more than 200 privately owned streets. Most are alleyways, but a select few look torn straight from the pages of a magazine. Lined with mansions and elaborate gardens, the properties are luxurious and perfectly maintained; security guards patrol the grounds to keep the curious at bay. Few know of these exclusive enclaves, but those who do prowl for availability. When several such streets are targeted in a series of so-called pranks, PI Sharon McCone is hired by a coalition of concerned owners to investigate. But as things escalate, she realizes that far more is at play than a few misdemeanors gone wrong. The case takes a sudden turn when one of McCone & Ripinsky’s most trusted employees is implicated, and Sharon will have to dig deep to save her agency --- and her life.
Grand Central Publishing | 9781538724521

DARLING GIRLS by Sally Hepworth (Domestic Thriller)
For as long as they can remember, Jessica, Norah and Alicia have been told how lucky they are. As young girls they were rescued from family tragedies and raised by a loving foster mother, Miss Fairchild, on an idyllic farming estate and given an elusive second chance at a happy family life. But their childhood wasn’t the fairy tale everyone thinks it was. Miss Fairchild had rules. Miss Fairchild could be unpredictable. And Miss Fairchild was never, ever to be crossed. In a moment of desperation, the three broke away from Miss Fairchild and thought they were free. Even though they never saw her again, she was always somewhere in the shadows of their minds. When a body is discovered under the home they grew up in, the foster sisters find themselves thrust into the spotlight as key witnesses. Or are they prime suspects?
St. Martin's Press | 9781250284525

DAYS OF WONDER by Caroline Leavitt (Fiction)
As a teenager, Ella Fitchburg found love that consumed both her and her boyfriend, Jude, as they wandered the streets of New York City together. But her glorious life was pulled out from beneath her after she was accused of trying to murder Jude’s father, an imperious superior court judge. When she learns she’s pregnant shortly after receiving a long prison sentence, she reluctantly decides to give up the child. Ella is released from prison after serving only six years and is desperate to turn the page on a new life, but she can’t seem to let go of her past. With only an address as a possible lead, she moves to Ann Arbor, Michigan, determined to get her daughter back. Yet a central mystery endures: neither Jude nor Ella can remember the events leading up to the attempted murder --- that fateful night that led to Ella’s conviction.
Algonquin Books | 9781643751283

EXTINCTION by Douglas Preston (Technothriller)
Erebus Resort, occupying a magnificent, hundred-thousand acre valley deep in the Colorado Rockies, offers guests the experience of viewing woolly mammoths, Irish Elk and giant ground sloths in their native habitat, brought back from extinction through the magic of genetic manipulation. When a billionaire's son and his new wife are kidnapped and murdered in the Erebus back country by what is assumed to be a gang of eco-terrorists, Colorado Bureau of Investigation Agent Frances Cash partners with county sheriff James Colcord to track down the perpetrators. As killings mount and the valley is evacuated, Cash and Colcord must confront an ancient, intelligent and malevolent presence at Erebus, bent not on resurrection --- but extinction.
Forge Books | 9780765317704

FUNNY STORY by Emily Henry (Romantic Comedy)
Daphne always loved the way her fiancé, Peter, told their story. How they met, fell in love and moved back to his lakeside hometown to begin their life together. He really was good at telling it…right up until the moment he realized he actually was in love with his childhood best friend, Petra. Daphne is now stranded in beautiful Waning Bay, Michigan, with a dream job as a children’s librarian and proposes to be roommates with Petra’s ex, Miles Nowak. The roommates mainly avoid one another until one day they form a tenuous friendship and a plan. If said plan also involves posting deliberately misleading photos of their summer adventures together, well, who could blame them? But it’s all just for show, because there’s no way Daphne would actually start her new chapter by falling in love with her ex-fiancé’s new fiancée’s ex. Right?
Berkley | 9780593441282

A GAME OF LIES by Clare Mackintosh (Psychological Thriller)
Stranded in the Welsh mountains, seven reality show contestants have no idea what they've signed up for. Each of these strangers has a secret. If another player can guess the truth, they won't just be eliminated --- they'll be exposed live on air. The stakes are higher than they'd ever imagined, and they're trapped. The disappearance of a contestant wasn't supposed to be part of the drama. Detective Ffion Morgan has to put aside what she's watched on screen and find out who these people really are --- knowing she can't trust any of them. And when a murderer strikes, Ffion knows every one of her suspects has an alibi…and a secret worth killing for.
Sourcebooks Landmark | 9781728296500

THE LAST WORD by Elly Griffiths (Literary Mystery)
Natalka and Edwin are perfect, if improbable, partners in a detective agency. Eighty-four-year-old Edwin is a master at surveillance, deploying his age as a cloak of invisibility. Natalka, more than 50 years his junior, is a math whiz who takes any cases concerning fraud or deception. She loves a murder, but none have come the agency’s way. That is until local writer Melody Chambers dies. Melody’s daughters are convinced that their mother was murdered. Edwin thinks that Melody’s death is linked to that of an obituary writer who predeceased many of his subjects. Edwin and Benedict go undercover to investigate and are on a creative writing weekend at isolated Battle House when another murder occurs. Are the cases linked, and what is the role of a distinctly sinister book group attended by many of writers involved?
Mariner Books | 9780063374720

LOST BIRDS: A Leaphorn, Chee & Manuelito Novel by Anne Hillerman (Mystery)
Joe Leaphorn may be long retired from the Navajo Tribal Police, but his detective skills are still sharp. His experience will be essential to solve a compelling new case: finding the birth parents of a woman who was raised by a bilagáana family but believes she is Diné based on an old photograph with a classic Navajo child’s blanket. Leaphorn discovers that his client’s adoption was questionable, and her adoptive family was not what they seem. His quest for answers takes him to an old trading post and leads him to a deadly cache of long-buried family secrets. Meanwhile, Leaphorn receives an unexpected call from a person he met decades earlier. Cecil Bowleg’s desperation is clear in his voice, but the call is cut off by an explosion and Cecil disappears. Leaphorn is determined to find the truth even as the situation grows dangerous.
Harper | 9780063344785

LUCKY by Jane Smiley (Historical Fiction)
Before Jodie Rattler became a star, she was a girl growing up in St. Louis. One day in 1955, when she was just six years old, her uncle Drew took her to the racetrack, where she got lucky --- and that roll of two-dollar bills she won has never since left her side. Jodie thrived in the warmth of her extended family, and then --- through a combination of hard work and serendipity --- she started a singing career, which catapulted her from St. Louis to New York City, from the English countryside to the tropical beaches of St. Thomas, from Cleveland to Los Angeles, and back again. Jodie comes of age in recording studios, backstage and on tour, and she tries to hold her own in the wake of Janis Joplin, Joan Baez, Judy Collins and Joni Mitchell. Yet it feels like something is missing. Could it be true love? Or is that not actually what Jodie is looking for?
Knopf | 9780593535011

NEXT OF KIN by Samantha Jayne Allen (Mystery)
At a gathering for her cousin’s wedding party, newly licensed PI Annie McIntyre gets asked an age-old question: What really makes us who we are, nature or nurture? Clint Marshall, an up-and-coming musician and an adoptee at a personal crossroads, wants to hire Annie to find his biological parents, and that question is on his mind. When Annie discovers that her client's father is a bank robber who her granddad, Leroy, arrested back when he was sheriff, reverberations sound between the past and the present, igniting old flames and rivalries. When the brother of her client dies suddenly, his death ruled a suicide, Annie questions whether or not it was in fact homicide --- and who in this family of outlaws would rather some secrets stay buried.
Minotaur Books | 9781250863836

THE PARIS NOVEL by Ruth Reichl (Historical Fiction)
When her estranged mother dies, Stella is left with an unusual inheritance: a one-way plane ticket and a note reading “Go to Paris.” When her boss encourages her to take time off, Stella resigns herself to honoring her mother’s last wishes. Alone in a foreign city, Stella falls into old habits, living cautiously and frugally. Then she stumbles across a vintage store, where she tries on a fabulous Dior dress. The shopkeeper insists that this dress was meant for Stella, and for the first time in her life Stella does something impulsive. She buys the dress --- and embarks on an adventure. As weeks --- and many decadent meals --- go by, Stella ends up living as a “tumbleweed” at the famed bookstore Shakespeare & Company, uncovers a hundred-year-old mystery in a Manet painting, and discovers a passion for food that may be connected to her past.
Random House | 9780812996302

THE RULEBREAKER: The Life and Times of Barbara Walters by Susan Page (Biography)
Barbara Walters was a force from the time TV was exploding on the American scene in the 1960s to its waning dominance in a new world of competition from streaming services and social media half a century later. In THE RULEBREAKER, Susan Page conducts 150 interviews and extensive archival research to discover that Walters was driven to keep herself and her family afloat after her mercurial and famous impresario father attempted suicide. But she never lost the fear of an impending catastrophe, which is what led her to ask for things no woman had ever asked for before, to ignore the rules of misogynistic culture, to outcompete her most ferocious competitors, and to protect her complicated marriages and love life from scrutiny.
Simon & Schuster | 9781982197926

SAFE AND SOUND by Laura McHugh (Mystery/Thriller)
As kids, Amelia and Kylee were found unharmed in their upstairs bedroom the night their teenage cousin Grace, who was babysitting them, vanished from the farmhouse in Beaumont, Missouri, leaving blood all over the kitchen. Grace, the first in their family to go to college instead of getting married and working at the meatpacking plant, had been on the verge of escaping their dead-end town. Her disappearance is a warning to any local girl who dared hope for better. Now, as their own high school graduation looms, Amelia and Kylee dream about fleeing Beaumont, but the likelihood of that happening seems as low as that of Grace being found. When human remains are discovered in town, the sisters think they finally know who took Grace --- but as they dig deeper into her past, they unearth long-buried secrets and a growing list of suspects.
Random House | 9780593448854

A SPY LIKE ME: A Double O Novel by Kim Sherwood (Thriller/Adventure)
James Bond is alive. Or at least he was when he left a clue at the black site where the insidious private military company Rattenfänger held him captive. MI6 cannot spare any more lives attempting to track down one missing agent. But Johanna Harwood, 003, has her own agenda. Sidelined by her superiors while she grieves the loss of a loved one, Harwood goes on an unsanctioned mission: to find 007. Meanwhile, MI6 has another problem. A bomb has detonated in London. Double O agents on the trail of the terrorists responsible acted quickly to prevent mass destruction and save lives. But MI6 failed to neutralize the nation’s enemies before they could strike, and one of their own was seriously injured in the blast. They won’t fail again.
William Morrow | 9780063236578

THE SUMMER WE STARTED OVER by Nancy Thayer (Fiction)
Eddie Grant is happy with her life and her work as a personal assistant to renowned romance author Dinah Lavender. But being a spectator to notoriety and glamour isn’t as fulfilling as she once thought. Thankfully, Eddie has the perfect excuse for a vacation: Her hardworking younger sister, Barrett, is opening her gift shop on Memorial Day weekend and could use all the help she can get. But going home to the beautiful island of Nantucket means facing the family’s difficult past. Shortly after the death of Eddie and Barrett’s brother, their mother left them, and their father made the spontaneous decision to buy a small farm. Eddie stayed there for only a year before her family’s grief threatened to consume her as well and had been living in Manhattan ever since. Now that she is back, Eddie must face all she left behind.
Ballantine Books | 9780593724002

YOUR PRESENCE IS MANDATORY by Sasha Vasilyuk (Historical Fiction)
Ukraine, 2007. Yefim Shulman --- husband, grandfather and war veteran --- was beloved by his family and his coworkers. But in the days after his death, his widow Nina finds a letter to the KGB in his briefcase. Yefim had a lifelong secret, and his confession forces them to reassess the man they thought they knew and the country he had defended. In 1941, Yefim is a young artillerist on the border between the Soviet Union and Germany, eager to defend his country and his large Jewish family against Hitler's forces. But surviving the war requires sacrifices Yefim never imagined --- and even when the war ends, his fight isn't over. He must conceal his choices from the KGB and from his family. YOUR PRESENCE IS MANDATORY traces the effect that Yefim's cover-up had on the lives of Nina, their two children and their grandchildren.
Bloomsbury Publishing | 9781639731534

On Sale the Week of April 22nd in Paperback

April 23rd

ALL IS NOT FORGIVEN by Joe Kenda (Mystery)
ALL IS NOT FORGIVEN is the debut crime novel of Investigation Discovery star Joe Kenda, a former homicide detective, who is known for his hit series “Homicide Hunter” and “American Detective.” In this first novel, the rookie Det. Kenda investigates a 1975 case that begins with the murder of a beloved Colorado philanthropist and society figure whose husband, a gambler and womanizer, appears to have an air-tight alibi. Mentored by his veteran partner, Det. Lee Wilson, Kenda’s case quickly attracts attention from the FBI, CIA and Interpol for its similarity to a string of killings involving wealthy married women. All the murders appear to have been committed by a hired professional whose trademark is the use of an unusual form of lethal ammunition that leaves no trace.
Blackstone Publishing | 9798212876995

ASSASSIN EIGHTEEN by John Brownlow (Thriller)
Paperback Original
Agent Seventeen, the most infamous hit man in the world, has quit. But whoever wants to become Assassin Eighteen must track him down and kill him first. So when a bullet hits the glass inches from his face, he knows who fired it. Doesn't he? It turns out that the sniper isn't the hardened killer he was expecting. It's Mireille, a mysterious silent child abandoned in the woods with instructions to pull the trigger. Reuniting with his spiky lover, Kat, Seventeen has to protect Mireille and discover who sent her to kill him and why. But the road he must travel is littered with bodies. And the answer, when it comes, will blow apart everything Seventeen thought he knew.
Hanover Square Press | 9781335005700

DEAD FALL by Brad Thor (Political Thriller)
In the war-ravaged borderlands of Ukraine, a Russian mercenary unit has gone rogue. Its members are the most criminally violent, psychologically dangerous combatants to ever set foot upon the modern battlefield. As they move from village to village, committing horrific war crimes, they meet little resistance as all able-bodied men are off fighting the war. Simultaneously, a team of Russian soldiers has been dispatched by the Kremlin to loot truckloads of art and priceless cultural treasures hidden away in a host of churches, museums and private homes. When multiple American aid workers are killed, America’s top spy is sent in to settle the score. But in a country so vast, will Scot Harvath be able to find the men in question and, more importantly, stop them before they can kill again?
Pocket Books | 9781982182205

DEAD MOUNTAIN: A Nora Kelly Novel by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child (Thriller)
In 2008, nine mountaineers failed to return from a winter backpacking trip in the New Mexico mountains. At their final campsite, searchers found a bizarre scene: something had appeared at the door of their tent so terrifying that it impelled them to slash their way out and flee barefoot to certain death in a blizzard. Despite a diligent search, only six bodies were found, two violently crushed and inexplicably missing their eyes. The case, given the code name “Dead Mountain” by the FBI, was never solved. Now, two more bodies from the lost expedition are unexpectedly discovered in a cave, one a grisly suicide. Young FBI Agent Corrie Swanson teams up with archaeologist Nora Kelly to investigate what really happened on that fateful trip 15 years ago --- and to find the ninth victim.
Grand Central Publishing | 9781538736814

FORGOTTEN WAR: A Matt Drake Novel by Don Bentley (Political Thriller)
As a team, Matt Drake and his partner, Frodo, have watched each other's backs through some very dark days. One thing they've never doubted was their commitment to each other. Until now. Frodo has been accused of a war crime 10 years after leaving Afghanistan. Matt is determined to prove his friend innocent. But what will he do when he finds that his closest friend has secrets he won't share?
Berkley | 9780593333570

HONEY, BABY, MINE: A Mother and Daughter Talk Life, Death, Love (and Banana Pudding) by Laura Dern and Diane Ladd (Memoir)
Laura Dern and Diane Ladd always had a close relationship, but the stakes were raised when Diane developed a sudden life-threatening illness. Diane’s doctor prescribed long walks to build back her lung capacity. The exertion was challenging, and Laura soon learned that the best way to distract her mom was to get her talking and telling stories. Their conversations along the way began to break down the traditional barriers between mothers and daughters. They discussed the most personal topics: love, sex, marriage, divorce, art, ambition and legacy. In HONEY, BABY, MINE, Laura and Diane share these conversations, as well as reflections and anecdotes, taking readers on an intimate tour of their lives. Complementing these candid exchanges, they have included photos, family recipes and other mementos.
Grand Central Publishing | 9781538720363

KNOWING WHAT WE KNOW: The Transmission of Knowledge: From Ancient Wisdom to Modern Magic by Simon Winchester (History)
With the advent of the internet, any topic we want to know about is instantly available with the touch of a smartphone button. With so much knowledge at our fingertips, what is there left for our brains to do? At a time when we seem to be stripping all value from the idea of knowing things --- no need for math, no need for map-reading, no need for memorization --- are we risking our ability to think? As we empty our minds, will we one day be incapable of thoughtfulness? Addressing these questions, Simon Winchester explores how humans have attained, stored and disseminated knowledge. Studded with strange and fascinating details, KNOWING WHAT WE KNOW is a deep dive into learning and the human mind. Throughout this fascinating tour, Winchester forces us to ponder what rational humans are becoming.
Harper Perennial | 9780063142893

THE LATE AMERICANS by Brandon Taylor (Fiction)
In the shared and private spaces of Iowa City, a loose circle of lovers and friends encounter, confront and provoke one another in a volatile year of self-discovery. Among them are Seamus, a frustrated young poet; Ivan, a dancer turned aspiring banker who dabbles in amateur pornography; Fatima, whose independence and work ethic complicate her relationships with friends and a trusted mentor; and Noah, who “didn’t seek sex out so much as it came up to him like an anxious dog in need of affection.” As each prepares for an uncertain future, the group heads to a cabin to bid goodbye to their former lives --- a moment of reckoning that leaves each of them irrevocably altered.
Riverhead Books | 9780593332344

LIFE SENTENCE: The Brief and Tragic Career of Baltimore’s Deadliest Gang Leader by Mark Bowden (True Crime)
Sandtown is one of the deadliest neighborhoods in the world. It earned Baltimore its nickname Bodymore, Murderland, and was made notorious by David Simon’s classic HBO series “The Wire.” Drug deals dominate street corners, and ruthless, casual violence abounds. Montana Barronette was the leader of the gang “Trained to Go” (or TTG), and when he was finally arrested and sentenced to life in prison, he had been nicknamed “Baltimore’s Number One Trigger Puller.” After a string of murders are linked to TTG, three detectives set out to put Tana in prison for life. Now an acclaimed journalist who spent his youth in the white suburbs of Baltimore, Mark Bowden returns to the city with exclusive access to the FBI files and unprecedented insight into one of the city’s deadliest gangs and its notorious leader.
Grove Press | 9780802163325

THE MAKING OF ANOTHER MAJOR MOTION PICTURE MASTERPIECE written by Tom Hanks, illustrated by R. Sikoryak (Fiction)
Part One of this story takes place in 1947. A troubled soldier, returning from the war, meets his talented five-year-old nephew and then disappears for 23 years. Cut to 1970: The nephew, now drawing underground comic books, reconnects with his uncle and --- remembering the comic book he saw when he was five --- draws a new version with his uncle as a World War II fighting hero. Cut to the present day: A commercially successful director discovers the 1970 comic book and decides to turn it into a contemporary superhero movie. Cue the cast: We meet the film’s extremely difficult male star, his wonderful leading lady, the eccentric writer/director, the producer, the gofer production assistant, and everyone else on both sides of the camera.
Vintage | 9780525565178

MONSTERS: A Fan's Dilemma by Claire Dederer (Literary Criticism)
Can we love the work of artists such as Hemingway, Sylvia Plath, Miles Davis, Polanski or Picasso? Should we? In this unflinching, deeply personal book, Claire Dederer explores the audience's relationship with artists from Michael Jackson to Virginia Woolf, asking: How do we balance our undeniable sense of moral outrage with our equally undeniable love of the work? Is male monstrosity the same as female monstrosity? And if an artist is also a mother, does one's identity inexorably, and fatally, interrupt the other? In a more troubling vein, she wonders if an artist needs to be a monster in order to create something great. Does genius deserve special dispensation? Does art have a mandate to depict the darker elements of the psyche? And what happens if the artist stares too long into the abyss?
Vintage | 9780525564188

MUST LOVE FLOWERS by Debbie Macomber (Fiction)
Now a widow and an empty-nester, Joan Sample has become something of a recluse. But now she has gathered the courage to take some long-awaited steps: hiring someone to tame her overgrown garden, joining a grief support group, and even renting out a room to a local college student. Across town, Maggie Herbert works mornings as a barista before rushing to afternoon nursing classes. She lives with her alcoholic father and struggles to pay the household bills. Her circumstances brighten when she finds a room for rent in Joan’s home. But will Maggie’s budding attraction to one of her favorite customers ruin the harmony she’s only recently found with Joan? Meanwhile, what is Joan to make of the mysterious landscaper who’s been revitalizing her garden --- a man who seems to harbor a past loss of his own?
Ballantine Books | 9780593600573

MY FATHER’S HOUSE by Joseph O’Connor (Historical Thriller)
September 1943: German forces have Rome under their control. Gestapo boss Paul Hauptmann rules over the Eternal City with vicious efficiency. Hunger is widespread. Rumors fester. The war’s outcome is far from certain. Diplomats, refugees, Jews and escaped Allied prisoners flee for protection into Vatican City, a neutral, independent state nestled in the city of Rome. A small band of unlikely friends led by a courageous Irish priest is drawn into a deadly battle of wits as they attempt to aid those seeking refuge. MY FATHER'S HOUSE is inspired by the true story of Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty, who, together with his accomplices, risked his life to smuggle thousands out of occupied Rome right under the nose of his Nazi nemesis.
Europa Editions | 9798889660163

NO RESERVE: A Dick Francis Novel by Felix Francis (Thriller)
Theo Jennings, an auctioneer in Newmarket, England, has been climbing the ladder at the bloodstock sales company for the past three years. He’s planning on making his first ever multi-million sale with a yearling colt. When he finds the colt dead a few days after the auction, Theo is suspicious that there was foul play involved. As Theo begins to investigate the death, he finds that answers aren’t coming readily from those who he questions. When a person’s body is discovered in the same stable a few days later, all fingers point to him. As his world turns upside down with the accusations, Theo decides to further his investigation. The only way to clear Theo’s name is to find the real murderer, but it isn’t just the police who have their eye on him --- the killer has a target on his back.
Crooked Lane Books | 9781639106776

THE PROPHET AND THE IDIOT written by Jonas Jonasson, translated by Rachel Willson-Broyles (Fiction/Humor)
Paperback Original
In the fading days of late summer 2011, self-taught astrophysicist Petra has calculated that the atmosphere will collapse in a few weeks’ time --- on September 21, at approximately 9:20 pm --- ending the world as we know it. But the distraught Petra will not have to carry the burden of this terrible news alone for long. Fate intervenes, bringing her into the orbit of a pair of unlikely companions: Johan, a man whose intellectual prowess is remarkably overshadowed by his culinary skills, and Agnes, a 75-year-old widow who has made a fortune posing as a young influencer on social media. Convincing them of the impending doom, Petra, Johan and Agnes embark on a wild adventure in a camper van that will take them from their homes in Sweden, through Europe, to their destination: Rome.
HarperVia | 9780063371668

THE SECRET: A Jack Reacher Novel by Lee Child and Andrew Child (Thriller)
1992. All across the United States, respectable, upstanding citizens are showing up dead. These deaths could be accidents, and they don’t appear to be connected --- until a fatal fall from a high-floor window attracts some unexpected attention. That attention comes from the Secretary of Defense. All of a sudden, he wants an interagency task force to investigate. And he wants Jack Reacher as the army’s representative. If Reacher gets a result, great. If not, he’s a convenient fall guy. But office politics isn’t Reacher’s thing. Three questions quickly emerge: Who’s with him, who’s against him, and will the justice he dispenses be the official kind...or his own kind?
Bantam | 9781984818607

SMALL MERCIES by Dennis Lehane (Thriller)
In the summer of 1974, a heat wave blankets Boston, and Mary Pat Fennessy is trying to stay one step ahead of the bill collectors. Mary Pat has lived her entire life in the housing projects of “Southie,” the Irish American enclave that stubbornly adheres to old tradition and stands proudly apart. One night, Mary Pat’s teenage daughter, Jules, stays out late and doesn’t come home. That same evening, a young Black man is found dead, struck by a subway train under mysterious circumstances. The two events seem unconnected. But Mary Pat, propelled by a desperate search for her missing daughter, begins turning over stones best left untouched --- asking questions that bother Marty Butler, chieftain of the Irish mob, and the men who work for him.
Harper Perennial | 9780062129499

THOSE EMPTY EYES by Charlie Donlea (Mystery/Thriller)
Alex Armstrong hasn’t stopped searching for answers about the night her family was killed 10 years ago. As a legal investigator, she works tirelessly to secure justice for others, too. People like Matthew Claymore, who’s under suspicion in the disappearance of his girlfriend, a student journalist named Laura McAllister. Laura was about to break a major story about rape and cover-ups on her college campus. Alex believes Matthew is innocent and unearths stunning revelations about the university’s faculty, fraternity members and powerful parents willing to do anything to protect their children. Most shocking of all, as Alex digs into Laura’s disappearance, she realizes there are unexpected connections to the murder of her own family.
Kensington | 9781496744975

TWO-WAY MIRROR: The Life of Elizabeth Barrett Browning by Fiona Sampson (Biography)
"How do I love thee? Let me count the ways." With these words, Elizabeth Barrett Browning has come down to us as a romantic heroine, a recluse controlled by a domineering father and often overshadowed by her husband, Robert Browning. But behind the melodrama lies a thoroughly modern figure whose extraordinary life is an electrifying study in self-invention. TWO-WAY MIRROR is the first biography of Barrett Browning in more than three decades. With unique access to the poet’s abundant correspondence, Fiona Sampson holds up a mirror to the woman, her art, and the art of biography itself.
W. W. Norton & Company | 9781324074649

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