October 22, 2024

October 22, 2024

Never Miss a Contest or a Promotion!
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In this newsletter, you will find books releasing the weeks of October 21st and October 28th 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 current Word of Mouth contest. Let us know by Friday, November 1st at noon ET what books you’ve read, and you’ll have a chance to win THE BLUE HOUR by Paula Hawkins, which will be a Bookreporter.com Bets On selection, and THE GREY WOLF by Louise Penny.

Our latest Fall Reading prize book is SHELL GAMES by Bonnie Kistler. Releasing on November 19th, this dazzling thriller is about a young woman whose fabulously wealthy mother might be the victim of an elaborate con or might be losing her mind --- and the daughter can’t tell where the truth lies.

The 24-hour contest is now up, so be sure to enter for your chance to win one of five copies of the book. The deadline for your entries is TOMORROW, Wednesday, October 23rd at noon ET.

"Bookaccino Live" Book Group
is Just One Week Away!

We will be hosting our 13 ½ Annual Book Group Speed Dating event on Friday, November 8th at 1pm ET. If you are a bookseller, librarian or book group leader, and would be interested in attending this event, please email Carol using the subject line “Speed Dating.” In your note, tell Carol a bit about yourself and what you do with book groups. This is a “trade only” event, but we will be sharing the publisher videos, PowerPoint slides and other materials with you later in November.

This Week's Bonus News:
Bookreporter.com's Word of Mouth Contest
Win a Copy of THE BLUE HOUR by Paula Hawkins
and THE GREY WOLF by Louise Penny

Upcoming Virtual Book and Author Events

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

Wednesday, October 23rd at 7pm ET: “Friends & Fiction”: Join “Friends & Fiction” for a conversation with Paula Hawkins about her latest book, THE BLUE HOUR. This stylish and immersive novel of ambition, legacy and betrayal is the F&F Pick of the Month.

Monday, October 28th at 3pm ET: Barnes & Noble: Join Barnes & Noble as they welcome Nick Harkaway and David McCloskey for a live virtual discussion of Harkaway's KARLA'S CHOICE, an extraordinary new novel set in the world of John le Carré's most iconic spy, George Smiley, and McCloskey's THE SEVENTH FLOOR, a page-turning thriller of six CIA officers, who for a quarter century have stolen other people’s secrets and now must steal each other’s.

Monday, October 28th at 7pm ET: Barnes & Noble: Join Barnes & Noble as they welcome Louise Penny for a live virtual discussion of THE GREY WOLF. This 19th installment in the award-winning Inspector Armand Gamache series is another tantalizing whodunit set in and around Three Pines. Louise will be in conversation with the New York Times bestselling author of WE SHOULD NOT BE FRIENDS, Will Schwalbe.

Tuesday, October 29th at 4pm ET: Killer Author Club: Kimberly Belle, Heather Gudenkauf and Kaira Rouda will talk to Paula Hawkins about her latest thriller, THE BLUE HOUR. A masterful novel that is as page-turning as it is unsettling, the book recalls the sophisticated suspense of Shirley Jackson and Patricia Highsmith. Please note the special time!

Tuesday, October 29th at 8pm ET: "Bookaccino Live" Book Group: Carol Fitzgerald will talk to Amanda Peters about her national bestseller, THE BERRY PICKERS, which is a Bookreporter.com Bets On pick. Amanda also will answer questions from guests who will be "on stage," as well as from other members of the audience.

On Sale the Week of October 21st in Hardcover

October 21st

AMERICAN HEROES by James Patterson and Matt Eversmann, with Tim Malloy (Biography)
U.S. soldiers who served in overseas conflicts --- from World War II, Korea and Vietnam to Iraq and Afghanistan --- share true stories of the actions that earned them some of America’s most distinguished military medals, up to and including the Medal of Honor. They never acted alone, but always in the spirit of camaraderie, patriotism and for the good of our beloved country. There has never been a better time for all of us to think about duty, sacrifice and what it means to be an American hero.
Little, Brown and Company | 9780316407205

October 22nd

ABSOLUTION: A Southern Reach Novel by Jeff VanderMeer (Speculative Fiction)
When the Southern Reach trilogy was first published a decade ago, it was an instant sensation. Each volume climbed the bestseller list; awards were won; the books made the rare transition from paperback original to hardcover; the movie adaptation became a cult classic. And yet, for Jeff VanderMeer, there was never full closure to the story of Area X. There were a few mysteries that had gone unsolved, some key points of view never aired. There were stories left to tell. Structured in three parts, each recounting a new expedition, ABSOLUTION is a brilliant, beautiful and ever-terrifying plunge into unique and fertile literary territory. There are some long-awaited answers here, to be sure, but also more questions and profound new surprises.
MCD | 9780374616595

BANDIT HEAVEN: The Hole-in-the-Wall Gangs and the Final Chapter of the Wild West by Tom Clavin (History)
Robbers Roost, Brown’s Hole and Hole-in-the-Wall were three hideouts that collectively were known to outlaws as “Bandit Heaven.” During the 1880s and ‘90s, these remote locations in Wyoming and Utah harbored hundreds of train and bank robbers, horse and cattle thieves, the occasional killer, and anyone else with a price on his head. Tom Clavin's BANDIT HEAVEN is the entertaining story of these tumultuous times and the colorful characters who rode the Outlaw Trail through the frigid mountain passes and throat-parching deserts that connected the three hideouts --- well-guarded enclaves that no sensible lawman would enter.
St. Martin's Press | 9781250282408

CHRISTMAS CRIMES AT THE MYSTERIOUS BOOKSHOP edited by Otto Penzler (Mystery/Short Stories)
For most of its 45-year history, The Mysterious Bookshop --- the oldest mystery specialty bookstore in the world --- has commissioned an original short story as a holiday gift for its customers. Written exclusively for the store and never published elsewhere, the stories were given as a holiday gift to its customers as a thank you for their business, handed out or mailed between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day. The prompt for the story requires three elements: that it be set at Christmastime, that it involve a crime of some kind, or the suspicion of one, and that it be set at least partially in the bookstore. And from these loose structural guidelines, diverse tales took flight. The dozen tales included in this volume are among the finest to be produced in this annual tradition, sure to charm any reader looking for a holiday-themed escape.
Mysterious Press | 9781613165720

DISTURBING THE BONES by Andrew Davis and Jeff Biggers (Political Thriller)
Chicago detective Randall Jenkins has not been back home to the historic Civil Rights hotspot of Cairo, Illinois, since the disappearance of his mother, a well-known journalist, several decades ago. That all changes the day Dr. Molly Moore, an ambitious young archaeologist in the national spotlight for her groundbreaking high-tech discoveries, uncovers a set of strange bones at a huge 12,000-year-old site at a highway construction project. With retired military general and contractor William Alexander breathing down her neck to cover up the dig, Molly and Randall soon find themselves in the middle of a wild military conspiracy. The detective and archaeologist’s entwined family mysteries suddenly thrust them into the central position as the only people who can ensure the safety of the ongoing Chicago global peace summit.
Melville House | 9781685891459

EVERYONE THIS CHRISTMAS HAS A SECRET: A Festive Mystery by Benjamin Stevenson (Mystery)
My name’s Ernest Cunningham. I used to be a fan of reading Golden Age murder mysteries, until I found myself with a haphazard career getting stuck in the middle of real-life ones. I’d hoped this Christmas that any self-respecting murderer would kick their feet up and take it easy over the holidays. I was wrong. So here I am, backstage at the show of world-famous magician Rylan Blaze, whose benefactor has just been murdered. My suspects are all professional tricksters: masters of the art of misdirection. My clues are even more abstract: A suspect covered in blood, without a memory of how it got there. A murder committed without setting foot inside the room where it happens. And an Advent calendar. If I can see through the illusions, I know I can solve it. After all, a good murder is just like a magic trick, isn’t it?
Mariner Books | 9780063412866

A FEW WORDS IN DEFENSE OF OUR COUNTRY: The Biography of Randy Newman by Robert Hilburn (Biography)
Randy Newman is widely hailed as one of America’s all-time greatest songwriters, equally skilled in the sophisticated melodies and lyrics of the Gershwin-Porter era and the cultural commentary of his own generation, with Bob Dylan and Paul Simon among his most ardent admirers. While tens of millions around the world can hum “You’ve Got a Friend in Me,” his disarming centerpiece for Toy Story, most of them would be astonished to learn that the heart of Newman’s legacy is in the dozens of brilliant songs that detail the injustices, from racism to class inequality, that have contributed to the division of our nation. In A FEW WORDS IN DEFENSE OF OUR COUNTRY, veteran music journalist Robert Hilburn presents the definitive portrait of an American legend.
Hachette Books | 9780306834691

IN TOO DEEP: A Reacher Novel by Lee Child and Andrew Child (Thriller)
Jack Reacher wakes up alone, in the dark, handcuffed to a makeshift bed. His right arm has suffered some major damage. His few possessions are gone. He has no memory of getting there. The last thing Reacher can recall is the car in which he hitched a ride getting run off the road. The driver was killed. His captors assume Reacher was the driver’s accomplice and patch up his wounds as they plan to make him talk. A plan that will backfire spectacularly.
Delacorte Press | 9780593725801

KARLA'S CHOICE: A John le Carré Novel by Nick Harkaway (Historical Thriller)
It is spring in 1963, and George Smiley has left the Circus. With the wreckage of the West’s spy war against the Soviets strewn across Europe, he has eyes only for a more peaceful life. And indeed, with his marriage more secure than ever, there is a rumor that Smiley might almost be happy. But Control has other plans. A Russian agent has defected in the most unusual of circumstances, and the man he was sent to kill in London is nowhere to be found. Smiley reluctantly agrees to one last simple task: interview Susanna, a Hungarian émigré and employee of the missing man, and sniff out a lead. But in his absence, the shadows of Moscow have lengthened. Smiley soon finds himself entangled in a perilous mystery that will define the battles to come and set him on a collision course with the greatest enemy he will ever make.
Viking | 9780593833490

LIFEFORM by Jenny Slate (Humor/Essays)
Jenny Slate was a human mammal who sniffed the air every morning hoping to find another person to love who would love her, and then we are pleased to report that she did fall in love, but also she was rabid with fear of losing this love because of past injury. And then what happened was that she became a wild-pregnant-mammal-thing, and then she exploded herself by having a whole baby blast through her vagina. Herein lies an account of this journey, told in five phases --- Single, True Love, Pregnancy, Baby and Ongoing --- through luminous, laugh-out-loud funny essays that take the form of letters to a doctor, dreams of a stork, fantasy therapy sessions, gossip between raccoons, excerpts from an imaginary olden timey play, obituaries, theories about post-partum hair loss, graduation speeches and more.
Little, Brown and Company | 9780316263931

MY GOOD BRIGHT WOLF: A Memoir by Sarah Moss (Memoir)
A girl must watch her figure but never be vain. She must be intelligent but never a know-it-all. She must be ambitious, if she is clever, but not in a way that shows. She must cook and sew and make do and mend. She must know (but never say) that these skills are, in some fundamental way, flawed and frivolous --- feminine. Girls must stay small, even as they grow. Women must show restraint.  And yet. In books, in the landscape of imagination, a girl can run free. Here, with MY GOOD BRIGHT WOLF, Sarah Moss takes on these rules, these lessons from the fables of girlhood, and uses them to fearlessly investigate the nature of memory, the lure of self-control, the impact of privilege, scarcity, parents and love.
Farrar, Straus and Giroux | 9780374614638

ROMAN YEAR: A Memoir by André Aciman (Memoir)
In ROMAN YEAR, André Aciman captures the period of his adolescence that began when he and his family first set foot in Rome, after being expelled from Egypt. Though Aciman’s family had been well-off in Alexandria, all vestiges of their status vanished when they fled, and the author, his younger brother and his deaf mother moved into a rented apartment in Rome’s Via Clelia. Though dejected, Aciman’s mother and brother found their way into life in Rome, while Aciman, still unmoored, burrowed into his bedroom to read one book after the other. The world of novels eventually allowed him to open up to the city and, through them, discover the beating heart of the Eternal City. Aciman’s time in Rome did not last long before he and his family moved across the ocean, but by the time they did, he was leaving behind a city he loved.
Farrar, Straus and Giroux | 9780374613389

UNLEASHED by Boris Johnson (Memoir)
In UNLEASHED, Boris Johnson, the Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, takes readers through all the big decisions during his time in power and why he took them. The challenges and crises, how they were resolved --- or not --- and how he nearly died from COVID; riots; crime; the London Olympics; and so much more. Johnson writes about his role in Brexit and the constitutional sea-change in British politics in 2019 with his landslide election victory. Underlying everything in the book is Johnson's belief that the UK is an extraordinary country and should have an exceptional future.
Harper | 9780063387263

On Sale the Week of October 21st in Paperback

October 22nd

BEING HENRY: The Fonz…and Beyond by Henry Winkler (Memoir)
Henry Winkler, who was launched into prominence as “The Fonz” in “Happy Days,” has transcended the role that made him who he is. In this achingly vulnerable memoir, Henry shares the disheartening truth of his childhood, the difficulties of a life with severe dyslexia, the pressures of a role that takes on a life of its own, and the path forward once your wildest dream seems behind you. Since the glorious era of “Happy Days” fame, Henry has endeared himself to a new generation with roles in such adored shows as “Arrested Development,” “Parks and Recreation” and “Barry,” where he’s been revealed as an actor with immense depth and pathos, a departure from the period of his life when he was so distinctly typecast as The Fonz, he could hardly find work.
Celadon Books | 9781250888150

BEYOND REASONABLE DOUBT by Robert Dugoni (Legal Thriller)
Paperback Original
When Jenna Bernstein, the disgraced wunderkind CEO of a controversial biotech company, is accused of murdering her former partner and lover, she turns to Seattle attorney Keera Duggan to defend her. Keera is more than a master chess player who brings her intuitive moves into court --- she’s Jenna’s childhood friend. But considering their history, Keera knows that where Jenna goes, trouble follows. With only circumstantial evidence against Jenna, Keera is willing to bury any trepidation she might have to defend a woman she believes to be innocent this time. As the investigation gets underway and disturbing questions arise, Keera puts her trust in a client who swears that she's telling nothing but the truth. If this is all just another devious game, Keera might be working to set a murderer free.
Thomas & Mercer | 9781662500220

CATCH YOU LATER by Jessica Strawser (Fiction)
Paperback Original
If Lark and Mikki didn’t have each other, they’d have nothing in this miserable town. So the best friends stick together, working night shift at the highway travel stop, going nowhere fast. Until a stranger drops in, heading for Florida, and Mikki impulsively leaves with him, never to be seen again. Eight years later, Lark is finally getting her life back together for the sake of her young daughter and Mikki’s lovably prickly grandma, who no longer can care for herself. People have almost stopped blaming Lark for Mikki’s disappearance, and she’s engaged to the nicest guy on highway patrol. But when the stranger who drove off with Mikki reappears looking for her, nobody knows what to believe. As the search reignites, Lark fights to find out whether Mikki is really missing or doesn’t want to be found.
Lake Union Publishing | 9781662510236

IF YOU WOULD HAVE TOLD ME: A Memoir by John Stamos (Memoir)
If you would have told a young John Stamos flipping burgers at his dad’s fast-food joint that one day he’d be a household name and that, at the height of his success, he’d be living alone, divorced, with no kids, high on a cocktail of forgetting, he might’ve asked, “You want fries with that?” John burst onto the scene in “General Hospital,” propelling him into the teen idol stratosphere, a place that’s often a point of no return. But he beat the odds and over the past four decades has proved himself to be one of his generation’s most successful and beloved actors. Whether showing off his comedic chops on “Full House” or his dramatic skills on “ER,” pushing the boundaries on Broadway or living out his youthful dreams as an honorary Beach Boy, John has surprised everyone, most of all himself.
Holt Paperbacks | 9781250891006

JOHNNY-BOY by A.F. Carter (Mystery/Thriller)
Paperback Original
Johnny-Boy is a killer. He lives for the thrill of the hunt, the stalking of human prey. Fittingly, he works as a hitman but always finds time for extracurricular activity on the side. When a new assignment sends him to Baxter, a depressed Rust Belt town experiencing a chaotic upheaval at the dawn of a new economic beginning, Johnny-Boy plans to keep things professional. But when he realizes that the streets are awash with drug activity, small-time mobsters, and loads of transitory laborers in town to construct a new car plant, Johnny-Boy sees an opportunity to have a little fun while he’s there. The work of cleaning up a town of lowlifes and criminals is a never-ending slog for Delia Mariola, Chief of Detectives. But when a young teenager --- nearly the same age as her own son --- is found tortured to death, the stakes suddenly feel higher than ever.
Mysterious Press | 9781613165805

LOST & HOUND by Rita Mae Brown (Mystery)
Fox hunting season is “Sister” Jane Arnold’s favorite time of year. The Jefferson Hunt Club is organizing a fundraising drive to help with the upkeep of their beloved hunting grounds. But the festive season is interrupted by the appearance of a dead body, tied to a chair and placed directly in the path of an early-season hunt. The intentional placement makes it clear that someone is sending a message. Then, one huntsman’s valuable stamp collection is stolen, and they discover the victim was also a stamp collector. Sister suspects a connection, which is confirmed when just one stamp is found taped to the garage door of her friend and treasurer of the hunt club, Ronnie Haslip. Could Ronnie have been involved in either the murder or the theft, or has he been marked as the next victim?
Ballantine Books | 9780593357590

THE MANOR HOUSE by Gilly Macmillan (Psychological Thriller)
Nicole and Tom are a normal, loving couple --- until a massive lottery win changes their lives overnight. Soon they’ve moved into a custom-built state-of-the-art Glass Barn on the stunning grounds of Lancaut Manor in Gloucestershire. They have fancy cars, expensive hobbies and an exclusive lifestyle they never could have imagined. But this dream world quickly turns into a nightmare when Tom is found dead in the swimming pool. Was Tom’s death a tragic accident, or was it something worse? There’s a nice young couple who live in the Manor itself along with their middle-aged housekeeper who has the Coach House. And an old friend of Tom’s from school has turned up to help Nicole get through her grief. But big money can bring big problems and big threats. Is Nicole's life in danger as well?
William Morrow Paperbacks | 9780063074392

THE MISSING WITNESS: A Quinn & Costa Novel by Allison Brennan
(Mystery/Thriller)
Detective Kara Quinn is back in Los Angeles to testify against a notorious human trafficker. But when the accused is shot in broad daylight, the chaotic scene of the crime turns up few reliable bystanders. And one witness --- a whistleblower who might be the key to everything --- has disappeared. After another person close to the case is killed, it’s clear that anyone who knows too much is in danger, and tracking down the witness becomes a matter of life and death. But as explosive secrets surface within the LAPD and FBI, Kara questions everything she thought she knew about the case, her colleagues and the life she left behind months ago. Now with FBI special agent Matt Costa’s help, she must race to find the missing witness and get to the bottom of the avalanche of conspiracies that has rocked LA to its core…before it's too late.
Mira | 9780778310587

NEVER TOO LATE by Danielle Steel (Fiction)
Kezia Cooper Hobson, who is recently widowed, arrives in New York from San Francisco. Determined to make a fresh start, she has just completed the sale of her Pacific Heights home, not to mention her husband’s venture capital firm. As Kezia settles into her new apartment, she meets her movie-star next-door neighbor, Sam Stewart, whose terrace borders hers. Just a couple of weeks after she arrives, however, a devastating crisis strikes New York City. Kezia and Sam find themselves connecting over their strong impulse to help those in need. As they share a life-changing experience of volunteering, a bond is sparked and a friendship is formed. Kezia’s daughters are taken aback by their mother’s new friendship but are more focused on their own love lives than hers.
Dell | 9780593498422

THE NEW NATURALS by Gabriel Bump (Fiction)
An abandoned restaurant on a hill off the highway in Western Massachusetts doesn't look like much. But to Rio, a young Black woman bereft after the loss of her newborn child, this hill becomes more than a safe haven --- it becomes a place to start over. She convinces her husband to help her construct a society underground, somewhere everyone can feel safe, loved and accepted. Soon their utopia begins to take shape and attracts the unhoused, the disillusioned and the spiritually lost. But no matter how much these people all yearn for a sanctuary from the existential dread of life above the surface, what happens if this new society can't actually work?
Algonquin Books ‎| 9781643755335

THE NIGHT ISLAND by Jayne Ann Krentz (Romantic Suspense)
Bonded by a night none of them can remember, Talia March, Pallas Llewellyn and Amelia Rivers are dedicated to uncovering the mystery of what really happened to them months ago --- an experience that amplified innate psychic abilities in each of them. The women suspect they were test subjects years earlier. All they have to do is find the list of others who took that same test. When Talia follows up on a lead from Phoebe, a fan of the trio’s podcast, she discovers that the informant has vanished. Talia isn’t the only one looking for Phoebe. Luke Rand, a hunted and haunted man who is chasing the same list that Talia is after, also shows up at the meeting place, and they are instantly suspicious of each other. But when a killer begins to stalk them, they realize they have to join forces to find Phoebe and the list.
Berkley | 9780593639863

PIG YEARS by Ellyn Gaydos (Nature/Memoir)
As a farmer in Upstate New York and Vermont, Ellyn Gaydos lives on the knife edge between loss and gain. Her debut memoir draws us into this precarious world, conjuring with stark simplicity the lifeblood of the farm. Joy and tragedy are frequent bedfellows. Fields go barren and animals meet their end too soon, but then their bodies become food in a time-old human ritual. Seasonal hands are ground down by the hard work, but new relationships are formed, love blossoms and Gaydos yearns to become a mother. As winter’s dark descends, PIG YEARS draws us into a violent and gorgeous world where pigs are star-bright symbols of hope and beauty surfaces in the furrows, the sow, even in the slaughter.
Vintage | 9780593312612

RUMOR OF EVIL by Gary Braver (Mystery/Thriller)
Detectives Kirk Lucian and Mandy Wing are charged with investigating a reported suicide of a Cambridge woman in her backyard. After further investigation, the hanging appears staged. Once Kirk and Mandy’s suspicions are confirmed, they make a list of suspects. Clues begin to connect the recent murder to the decades-old mysterious death of a beautiful 16-year-old Romany exchange student who perished when a treehouse she was sleeping in caught fire. The girl, Vadima Lupescu, had done “odd” things among her American peers that stirred up prejudices and suspicions, leading to her brutal death --- and cover-up. As Kirk and Mandy investigate the bizarre rumors --- that Vadima had “gypsy powers” and put curses on those around her --- they discover a cauldron of dark secrets.
Oceanview Publishing | 9781608096299

RUN by Blake Crouch (Science Fiction/Apocalyptic Thriller)
Paperback Original
Five days ago, the epidemic of rage began. Four days ago, the rash of senseless murders swept the nation. Three days ago, the president addressed the country and begged for peace --- even as the murders increased tenfold. Two days ago, the killers began to mobilize. One day ago, the power went out. And tonight, the killers are reading the names of those to be killed over the Emergency Broadcast System. Jack Colclough is listening over the battery-powered radio on his kitchen table in Albuquerque, and he just heard his name. People are coming to his house to kill him, his wife, his daughter and his son. He has no idea what’s happening, or why, but the time for questions is long past. His only chance is to run.
Ballantine Books | 9780593874790

THE SECRET WAR OF JULIA CHILD by Diana R. Chambers (Historical Fiction)
Paperback Original
Single, 6’2” and 30 years old, Julia McWilliams took a job working for America's first espionage agency, years before cooking or Paris entered the picture. THE SECRET WAR OF JULIA CHILD traces Julia's transformation from ambitious Pasadena blue blood to Washington, DC file clerk, to head of General "Wild Bill" Donovan's secret File Registry as part of the Office of Strategic Services. The wartime journey takes her to South Asia's remote front lines of then-Ceylon, India and China, where she finds purpose, adventure, self-knowledge --- and love with mapmaker Paul Child. The spotlight has rarely shone on this fascinating period of time in the life of Julia Child, and this lyrical story allows us to explore the unlikely world of a woman in a World War II spy station who has no idea of the impact she'll eventually impart.
Sourcebooks Landmark | 9781464219047

SISTERS UNDER THE RISING SUN by Heather Morris (Historical Fiction)
In the midst of World War II, English musician Norah Chambers places her eight-year-old daughter, Sally, on a ship leaving Singapore, desperate to keep her safe from the Japanese army. Sister Nesta James, a Welsh Australian nurse, has enlisted to tend to Allied troops. But as Singapore falls to the Japanese, she joins the terrified cargo of people, including the heartbroken Norah, crammed aboard the Vyner Brooke merchant ship. Only two days later, they are bombarded from the air off the coast of Indonesia. After surviving a brutal 24 hours in the sea, Norah and Nesta are captured by the Japanese and held in one of their notorious POW camps. These sisters in arms fight side by side every day, discovering in themselves and each other extraordinary reserves of courage, resourcefulness and determination.
St. Martin’s Griffin ‎| 9781250320575

THE SIX: The Extraordinary Story of the Grit and Daring of America's First Women Astronauts by Loren Grush (History)
When NASA sent astronauts to the moon in the 1960s and 1970s, the agency excluded women from the corps, arguing that only military test pilots --- a group then made up exclusively of men --- had the right stuff. Eventually, though, NASA recognized its blunder and opened the application process to a wider array of hopefuls, regardless of race or gender. From a candidate pool of 8,000, six elite women were selected in 1978: Sally Ride, Judy Resnik, Anna Fisher, Kathy Sullivan, Shannon Lucid and Rhea Seddon. In THE SIX, acclaimed journalist Loren Grush shows these brilliant and courageous women enduring claustrophobic --- and sometimes deeply sexist --- media attention, undergoing rigorous survival training, and preparing for years to take multi-million-dollar payloads into orbit.
Scribner ‎| 9781982172817

SPARE by Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex (Memoir)
It was one of the most searing images of the 20th century: two young boys, two princes, walking behind their mother’s coffin as the world watched in sorrow --- and horror. As Diana, Princess of Wales, was laid to rest, billions wondered what the princes must be thinking and feeling --- and how their lives would play out from that point on. For Harry, this is that story at last. A landmark publication, SPARE is full of insight, revelation, self-examination and hard-won wisdom about the eternal power of love over grief.
Random House Trade Paperbacks ‎| 9780593593820

TOM CLANCY COMMAND AND CONTROL: A Jack Ryan Novel by Marc Cameron (Thriller/Adventure)
For a century, the Panama Canal has served as the path between the seas. Control of this vital waterway is the difference between free trade and chaos in world markets. So when Panamanian President Rafael Botero asks for a show of support against the socialist opposition, his old friend, President Jack Ryan, can’t turn down an invitation to visit the country. But what seems like an ordinary opportunity to preach the values of democracy quickly turns into a nightmare when a full-blown coup d’état erupts. One of the main forces behind the coup is the ruthless criminal organization known as the Camarilla. They’ve had their tentacles deep inside the plot to overthrow the government. All of their hard work has just presented them with an unexpected opportunity they can’t resist --- the chance to kill the President.
Berkley ‎| 9780593422861

UP ON THE WOOF TOP: A Chet & Bernie Mystery by Spencer Quinn (Mystery)
Chet the dog and his human partner, Bernie Little, find themselves high in the mountains this holiday season to help Dame Ariadne Carlisle, a renowned author of bestselling Christmas mysteries, find Rudy, her lead reindeer and good luck charm, who has gone missing. At Kringle Ranch, Dame Ariadne’s expansive mountain spread, Chet discovers that he is not fond of reindeer. But the case turns out to be about much more than reindeer after Dame Ariadne’s personal assistant takes a long fall into Devil’s Purse, a deep mountain gorge. When our duo discovers that someone very close to Dame Ariadne was murdered in that same spot decades earlier, they start looking into that long-ago unsolved crime. But as they reach into the past, the past is also reaching out for them.
Forge Books ‎| 9781250843326

THE WATCHMAKER’S HAND: A Lincoln Rhyme Novel by Jeffery Deaver (Thriller)
When a New York City construction crane mysteriously collapses, causing mass destruction and injury, forensic criminalist Lincoln Rhyme and detective Amelia Sachs are on the case. A political group claims responsibility for the sabotage and threatens another attack in 24 hours, unless its demands are met. Then a clue reveals to Rhyme that his nemesis, known as the Watchmaker, has come to town to fulfill his promise of murdering the criminalist. Now Rhyme and Sachs have to dodge his brilliant scheme to destroy them both, while racing against time to stop the construction site terrorists. With New York in a panic, Rhyme and his team must unravel a handful of plots as tightly wound as a timepiece --- before more cranes fall, raining down death and destruction from above.
G.P. Putnam’s Sons | 9780593422137

On Sale the Week of October 28th in Hardcover

October 29th

THE BLUE HOUR by Paula Hawkins (Psychological Thriller)
Welcome to Eris: an island with only one house, one inhabitant, one way out. Unreachable from the Scottish mainland for 12 hours each day. Once home to Vanessa, a famous artist whose notoriously unfaithful husband disappeared 20 years ago. Now home to Grace, a solitary creature of the tides, content in her own isolation. But when a shocking discovery is made in an art gallery far away in London, a visitor comes calling. And the secrets of Eris threaten to emerge.
Mariner Books | 9780063396524

GATHER ME: A Memoir in Praise of the Books That Saved Me by Glory Edim (Memoir)
Glory Edim, who grew up in Virginia to Nigerian immigrant parents, started the popular Well-Read Black Girl book club at age 30, eventually reaching a community of half a million readers. But her own love of books stretches far back. Edim’s father moved back to Nigeria while she was still a child, marking the beginning of a series of traumatic changes and losses for her family. What became an escape, a safe space and a second home for her and her brother was their local library. Books were where Edim found community, and as she grew older she discovered authors and ideas that she wasn’t being taught about in class. Reading wherever and whenever she could, be it in her dorm room or when traveling by subway or plane, she found the Black writers whose words would forever change her life.
Ballantine Books | 9780525619796

THE GREY WOLF by Louise Penny (Mystery)
Relentless phone calls interrupt the peace of a warm August morning in Three Pines. Someone has managed to track down Armand Gamache, head of homicide at the Sûreté, as he sits with his wife in their back garden. Reine-Marie watches with increasing unease as her husband refuses to pick up, though he clearly knows who is on the other end. When he finally answers, his rage shatters the calm of their quiet Sunday morning. That's only the first in a sequence of strange events that begin THE GREY WOLF. A missing coat, an intruder alarm, a note for Gamache reading "this might interest you," a puzzling scrap of paper with a mysterious list --- and then a murder. All propel Chief Inspector Gamache and his team toward a terrible realization. Something much more sinister than any one murder or any one case is fast approaching.
Minotaur Books | 9781250328137

LIKE MOTHER, LIKE MOTHER by Susan Rieger (Fiction)
Detroit, 1960. Lila Pereira is two years old when her angry, abusive father has her mother committed to an asylum. Lila never sees her mother again. Three decades later, Lila rises to the pinnacle of American media as the powerful, brilliant executive editor of The Washington Globe. Lila leaves the rearing of her daughters to her generous husband, Joe. Grace, their youngest daughter, feels abandoned. She wishes her mother would attend PTA meetings, not White House correspondents’ dinners. As she grows up, she cannot shake her resentment. She wants out from under Lila’s shadow, yet the more she resists, the more Lila seems to shape her life. Grace becomes a successful reporter, even publishing a bestselling book about her mother. In the process of writing it, she realizes how little she knows about her own family.
The Dial Press | 9780525512493

MY THREE DOGS by W. Bruce Cameron (Fiction)
When a tragic accident separates three dogs from their human, they find themselves up for adoption --- separately. But Riggs, a dedicated, loyal Australian Shepherd, refuses to see his family torn apart. After the exuberant and fun-loving doodle Archie and quick-witted Jack Russell Luna are taken to new homes, Riggs' powerful herding instincts send him on a journey to bring his pack back together again.
Forge Books | 9781250900203

THE QUEEN by Nick Cutter (Supernatural Thriller/Horror)
On a sunny morning in June, Margaret Carpenter wakes up to find a new iPhone on her doorstep. She switches it on to find a text from her best friend, Charity Atwater. The problem is, Charity has been missing for over a month. Most people in town --- even the police --- think she’s dead. Margaret and Charity have been lifelong friends. They share everything and know the most intimate details about one another. Except for the destructive secret hidden from them both. A secret that will trigger a chain of events ending in tragedy, bloodshed and death. And now Charity wants Margaret to know her story --- the real story. In a narrative that takes place over one feverish day, Margaret follows a series of increasingly disquieting breadcrumbs as she forges deeper into the mystery of her best friend --- a person she never truly knew at all.
Gallery Books | 9781668020975

THIS MOTHERLESS LAND by Nikki May (Fiction)
Quiet Funke is happy in Nigeria. But when tragedy strikes, she’s sent to England, a place she knows only from her mother’s stories. To her dismay, she finds the much-lauded estate dilapidated, the food tasteless, the weather gray. Worse still, her mother’s family is cold and distant. With one exception: her cousin, Liv. Free-spirited Liv has always wanted to break free of her joyless family. She becomes fiercely protective of her little cousin, and her warmth and kindness give Funke a place to heal. The two girls grow into adulthood the closest of friends, but the choices their mothers made haunt them. And when a second tragedy occurs, their friendship is torn apart. Against the long shadow of their shared family history, each woman will struggle to chart a path forward, separated by country, misunderstanding and ambition.
Mariner Books | 9780063084292

On Sale the Week of October 28th in Paperback

October 29th

ABSOLUTION by Alice McDermott (Historical Fiction)
Tricia is a shy newlywed, married to a rising attorney on loan to navy intelligence. Charlene is a practiced corporate spouse and mother of three. In Saigon in 1963, the two women form a wary alliance as they balance the era’s mandate to be “helpmeets” to their ambitious husbands with their own inchoate impulse to “do good” for the people of Vietnam. Sixty years later, Charlene’s daughter, spurred by an encounter with an aging Vietnam vet, reaches out to Tricia. Together, they look back at their time in Saigon, taking wry account of that pivotal year and of Charlene’s altruistic machinations. They discover how their own lives as women on the periphery have been shaped and burdened by the same sort of unintended consequences that followed America’s tragic interference in Southeast Asia.
Picador | 9781250337993

THE BERRY PICKERS by Amanda Peters (Fiction)
July 1962. A Mi’kmaq family from Nova Scotia arrives in Maine to pick blueberries for the summer. Weeks later, four-year-old Ruthie, the family’s youngest child, vanishes. She is last seen by her six-year-old brother, Joe, sitting on a favorite rock at the edge of a berry field. Joe will remain distraught by his sister’s disappearance for years to come. In Maine, a young girl named Norma grows up as the only child of an affluent family. Her father is emotionally distant, her mother frustratingly overprotective. Norma is often troubled by recurring dreams and visions that seem more like memories than imagination. As she grows older, Norma slowly comes to realize there is something her parents aren’t telling her --- and she will spend decades trying to uncover this family secret.
Catapult | 9781646222384

DEATH STAKE: A Trasker Thriller by Andrew Mayne (Thriller/Adventure)
Paperback Original
Retired intelligence operative Brad Trasker heads security at a remote aerospace facility when there’s a major breach. A photo of their top-secret AI-designed hydrogen engine has surfaced online. Trasker’s investigation into who did it soon leads to a start-up in Bangkok, where its three software developers have disappeared, along with nearly a million dollars in investment money. Following their tracks, Trasker hits a dead end. The start-up’s HQ is a padlocked crime scene. No one --- not the cagey locals, the mobbed-up gangs or the Royal Thai Police --- is keen on answering Trasker’s questions. But their message is clear: get out of Bangkok or die. Hunted by assassins, Trasker is drawn into the same complex high-tech underworld of cryptocurrency, digital espionage and betrayal that swallowed up the runaway coders.
Thomas & Mercer | 9781662522222

THE GRAYS OF TRUTH by Sharon Virts (Historical Mystery)
Paperback Original
In Reconstruction-era Baltimore, members of the city’s elite keep turning up dead. When Jane Gray Wharton’s husband, Ned, dies unexpectedly while overnighting at his brother’s home, Jane has no reason to question the circumstances of his death. But on a visit to the same house a few weeks later, both Jane and her daughter fall gravely ill, and Jane begins to suspect foul play. Though a trained chemist and former nurse, Jane is haunted by a history of delusion, loss and institutionalization. As the unexpected and devastating deaths begin to multiply, Jane’s grip on reality starts to slip. When a respected army officer falls terribly ill after visiting the Whartons’ Baltimore home, Jane’s greatest fears become all too real. The time has come to act. But who will believe her? And can she even trust her own mind?
Flashpoint | 9781959411727

THE HAPPY COUPLE by Naoise Dolan (Fiction)
Meet Celine and Luke. For all intents and purposes, the happy couple. Luke (a serial cheater) and Celine (more interested in piano than domestic life) plan to marry in a year. Archie (the best man) should be moving on from his love for Luke and up the corporate ladder, but he finds himself utterly stuck. Phoebe (the bridesmaid and Celine’s sister) just wants to get to the bottom of Luke’s frequent unexplained disappearances. And Vivian (a wedding guest) is the only one with any emotional distance and observes her friends like ants in a colony. As the wedding approaches and their five lives intersect, these characters will each look for a path to the happily ever after. But does it lie at the end of an aisle?
Ecco | 9780063330474

A HOLLY JOLLY EVER AFTER: A Christmas Notch Novel by Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone (Romantic Comedy)
As the arguably lesser of the three former members of the boy band INK, Kallum Lieberman enjoyed his 15 minutes of fame and then moved home where he opened a regional pizza chain called Slice, Slice, Baby! But after an old one-off sex tape is leaked and quickly goes viral, Kallum decides he’s ready to step into the spotlight again, starring in a sexy Santa biopic for the Hope Channel. Winnie Baker married her childhood sweetheart, avoided the downfalls of adolescent stardom, and transitioned into a stable adult acting career. But after her perfect life falls apart, Winnie is ready to redefine herself…and what better way than a steamier-than-a-steaming-hot-mug-of-cider Christmas movie? Suddenly, Kallum’s teenage crush on Winnie is bubbling to the surface, and Winnie might be catching feelings herself.
Avon | 9780063222656

INHERITANCE: The Lost Bride Trilogy, Book 1 by Nora Roberts
(Paranormal Fantasy/Romance)
Graphic designer Sonya MacTavish is stunned to learn that her late father had a twin he never knew about --- and that her newly discovered uncle, Collin Poole, has left her almost everything he owned, including a majestic Victorian house on the Maine coast, which the will stipulates she must live in it for at least three years. Trey, the young lawyer who greets her at the sprawling clifftop manor, acknowledges that the place is haunted…but just a little. Sonya sees a painting by her father inexplicably hanging in her deceased uncle’s office, and a portrait of a woman named Astrid, whom the lawyer refers to as “the first lost bride.” It’s becoming clear that Sonya has inherited far more than a house. She has inherited a centuries-old curse and a puzzle to be solved if there is any hope of breaking it.
St. Martin’s Griffin | 9781250901835

LEAVE THE GIRLS BEHIND by Jacqueline Bublitz (Psychological Thriller)
Paperback Original
Ruth-Ann Baker is a college dropout, a bartender --- and an amateur detective who just can’t stay away from true crime. Nineteen years ago, her childhood friend was murdered by suspected serial killer Ethan Oswald. Still tormented by the case, Ruth can’t help but think of the long-dead Oswald when another young girl goes missing from the same town. And when she uncovers startling new evidence that suggests Oswald did not act alone, she is determined to find his deadly partner in crime. Embarking on a global investigation, Ruth becomes close to three very different women --- one of whom just might hold the key to what happened to the missing girl. And her childhood friend, all those years ago.
Atria/Emily Bestler Books | 9781982199050

MASQUERADE by Mike Fu (Fiction)
Paperback Original
Newly single Meadow Liu is house-sitting for his friend, artist Selma Shimizu, when he stumbles upon The Masquerade, a translated novel about a masked ball in 1930s Shanghai. The author’s name is the same as Meadow’s own in Chinese, Liu Tian --- a coincidence that proves to be the first of many strange happenings. Over the course of a single summer, Meadow must contend with a possibly haunted apartment, a mirror that plays tricks and a stranger speaking in riddles at the bar where he works, as well as a startling revelation about a former lover. And when Selma vanishes from her artist residency, Meadow is forced to question everything he knows as the boundaries between real and imagined begin to blur.
Tin House Books | 9781959030843

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 | 9781641296205

REDWOOD COURT by DéLana R. A. Dameron (Fiction)
On Redwood Court, the cul-de-sac in the all-Black working-class suburb of Columbia, South Carolina, where her grandparents live, Mika Tabor learns important lessons from the people who raise her: her exhausted parents, who work long hours at multiple jobs while still making sure their kids experience the adventure of family vacations; her older sister, who in a house filled with Motown would rather listen to Alanis Morrisette; her retired grandparents, children of Jim Crow, who realized their own vision of success when they bought their house on the Court in the 1960s, imagining it filled with future generations; and the many neighbors who hold tight to the community they’ve built, committed to fostering joy and love in an America so insistent on seeing Black people stumble and fall.
Dial Press Trade Paperback | 9780593447048

ROBERT B. PARKER’S BROKEN TRUST: A Spenser Novel by Mike Lupica (Mystery)
A brilliant scientist and an astute businessman, Andrew Crain’s groundbreaking work with lithium has made him one of the world’s richest men. He is universally adored and admired; that is, until Crain’s beautiful wife, Laura, comes to Spenser hoping that he can find out what skeletons lurk in her husband’s closet. Though Crain is a generous philanthropist and loving family man, she is concerned. He recently has become secretive, bordering on paranoid, and prone to violent outbursts. As Spenser digs into the billionaire’s past, he realizes that the man may have done terrible things on his rise to the top --- but he also may have had good reason to. What Spenser discovers will cause him to question his own views on morality --- and place him in grave danger.
G.P. Putnam’s Sons | 9780593540268

SAME BED DIFFERENT DREAMS by Ed Park (Speculative Fiction)
In 1919, far-flung patriots establish the Korean Provisional Government to protest the Japanese occupation of their country. This government-in-exile proves mostly symbolic, though, and after Japan’s defeat in World War II, the KPG dissolves and civil war erupts, resulting in the tragic North-South split that remains today. But what if the KPG still existed --- now working toward a unified Korea, secretly pulling levers to further its aims? SAME BED DIFFERENT DREAMS weaves together three distinct narrative voices with an archive of mysterious images and twists reality like a kaleidoscope. Korean history, American pop culture and our tech-fraught lives come together in acclaimed author Ed Park’s novel.
Random House Trade Paperbacks | 9780812988321

SUN OF BLOOD AND RUIN by Mariely Lares (Historical Fantasy/Adventure)
In 16th-century New Spain, witchcraft is punishable by death, indigenous temples have been destroyed, and tales of mythical creatures that once roamed the land have become whispers in the night. Hidden behind a mask, Pantera uses her magic and legendary swordplay skills to fight the tyranny of Spanish rule. To all who know her, Leonora de las Casas Tlazohtzin never leaves the palace and is promised to the heir of the Spanish throne. The respectable, law-abiding Lady Leonora faints at the sight of blood and would rather be caught dead than meddle in court affairs. No one suspects that Leonora and Pantera are the same person. When an ancient prophecy of destruction threatens to come true, Leonora --- and therefore Pantera --- is forced to decide: surrender the mask or fight to the end.
Harper Voyager | 9780063254329

THIS GIRL’S A KILLER by Emma C. Wells (Thriller/Humor)
Paperback Original
Cordelia Black loves exactly three things: her chosen family, her hairdresser (worth every penny plus tip) and killing bad men. By day, she's an ambitious pharma rep with a flawless reputation and designer wardrobe. By night, she culls South Louisiana of unscrupulous men --- monsters who think they've evaded justice, until they meet her. But when the evening news starts throwing around the term "serial killer" and her best friend starts dating a man who just might unravel everything Cordelia has worked for, she must come face to face with the choices she's made. The good, the bad and the murderous. Her family and her freedom depend on it.
Poisoned Pen Press | 9781464218620

THE WATERS by Bonnie Jo Campbell (Fiction)
On an island in the Great Massasauga Swamp --- an area known as “The Waters” to the residents of nearby Whiteheart, Michigan --- herbalist and eccentric Hermine “Herself” Zook has healed the local women of their ailments for generations. As stubborn as her tonics are powerful, Herself inspires reverence and fear in the people of Whiteheart, and even in her own three estranged daughters. The youngest --- the beautiful, inscrutable and lazy Rose Thorn --- has left her own daughter, 11-year-old Dorothy “Donkey” Zook, to grow up wild. Donkey spends her days searching for truths in the lush landscape and in her math books, waiting for her wayward mother and longing for a father, unaware that family secrets, passionate love and violent men will flood through the swamp and upend her idyllic childhood.
W. W. Norton & Company | 9781324105152

WE MUST NOT THINK OF OURSELVES by Lauren Grodstein (Historical Fiction)
In November 1940, Adam Paskow becomes a prisoner in the Warsaw Ghetto, where the Jews of the city are cut off from their former lives and held captive by Nazi guards. Weeks later, he is approached by a mysterious figure with a surprising request: Will he join a secret group of archivists working to preserve the truth of what is happening inside these walls? Adam agrees and begins taking testimonies from his students, friends and neighbors. One of the people Adam interviews is his flatmate, Sala Wiskoff, who is married with two children. Over the months of their confinement, in the presence of her family, Adam and Sala fall in love. But when Adam discovers a possible escape from the Ghetto, he is faced with an unbearable choice: Whom can he save, and at what cost?
Algonquin Books ‎| 9781643756363

November 1st

A TRIBUTE OF FIRE by Sariah Wilson (Fantasy/Romance)
Paperback Original
Lia is the princess of Locris, a dying desert nation cursed centuries ago by an earth goddess --- one still worshipped by the thriving and adversarial nation of Ilion. Every year, Ilion offers the goddess a sacrifice: two Locrian maidens forced to compete in a life-and-death race to reach her temple. In a millennium, no maiden has made it out of Ilion alive. This year, Lia is one of the hunted. An education in battle gives her a fighting chance, but the challenges are greater than she feared: Lia’s beloved but untrained sister, Quynh, has been put in the path of danger. The winding streets of Ilion itself have been transformed into a labyrinthine maze of countless choices and dead ends. And if the risks weren’t significant enough, Lia is reluctantly drawn to the commandingly attractive Jason, an Ilionian sailor she loathes to trust and desires like no man before.
Montlake | 9781662525148

A VERY BAD THING by J.T. Ellison (Psychological Thriller)
Paperback Original
With a number of hit titles and a highly anticipated movie tie-in, celebrated novelist Columbia Jones is at the top of her game. Fans around the world adore her. But on the final night of her latest book tour, one face in the crowd makes the author collapse. And by the next morning, she’s lying dead in a pool of blood. Columbia’s death shocks the world and leaves Darian, her daughter and publicist, reeling. The police have nothing to go on --- at first. But then details emerge, pointing to the author’s illicit past. It turns out many people had motive to kill Columbia. And with a hungry reporter and frustrated cop on the trail, her secrets won’t stay buried long. But how many lives will they shatter as the truth comes out?
Thomas & Mercer | 9781662520310

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