January 27, 2026

January 27, 2026

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In this newsletter, you will find books releasing the weeks of January 26th and February 2nd 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, February 6th at noon ET what books you’ve read, and you’ll have a chance to win two highly anticipated titles: IT'S NOT HER, Mary Kubica's upcoming psychological thriller, and VIGIL, the long-awaited second novel from George Saunders, following 2017's LINCOLN IN THE BARDO.

This Week's Bonus News:
Bookreporter.com's Word of Mouth Contest
Win a Copy of IT'S NOT HER by Mary Kubica
and VIGIL by George Saunders

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, January 28th at 7pm ET: “Friends & Fiction”: Join “Friends & Fiction” for a conversation with Paula McLain about her latest novel, SKYLARK, a spellbinding and transportive look at a side of Paris known to very few --- the underground city that is a mirror reflection of the glories above.

Monday, February 2nd at 8pm ET: The Poisoned Pen Bookstore: Jonathan Kellerman will talk about his latest book, JIGSAW, an electric thriller that marks the return of the most beloved duo in American crime fiction: psychologist Alex Delaware and Detective Milo Sturgis.

Tuesday, February 3rd at 3pm ET: Barnes & Noble: Join Barnes & Noble as they welcome #1 New York Times bestselling author Freida McFadden and internationally bestselling author LJ Ross for a virtual discussion of McFadden's DEAR DEBBIE and Ross' IMPOSTOR as part of B&N's Midday Mystery Virtual Event series. Freida and LJ will be in conversation with USA Today bestselling author Hank Phillippi Ryan.

Tuesday, February 3rd at 7pm ET: Buzz Books Official Spring Summer 2026 Nonfiction Panel: Five authors will chat with their editors about their upcoming books: Sue Aikens (NORTH OF ORDINARY), Casey Sherman (THE KILLER AND FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT), Sarah Wilson (I EAT THE STARS), ​Annabelle Gurwitch (THE END OF MY LIFE IS KILLING ME), and Beth Howard (SONG FOR A HARD-HIT PEOPLE).

Tuesday, February 3rd at 9pm ET: Killer Author Club: Kaira Rouda will talk to her fellow Killer Author Club hosts, Kimberly Belle and Heather Gudenkauf, about her latest thriller. WE WERE NEVER FRIENDS is an unputdownable, riveting train wreck full of dark humor and bad behavior.

On Sale the Week of January 26th in Hardcover

January 27th

BLACK DAHLIA: Murder, Monsters, and Madness in Midcentury Hollywood by William J. Mann (True Crime)
The brutal murder of Elizabeth Short --- better known as the Black Dahlia --- in 1947 has been in the public consciousness for nearly 80 years, yet no serious study of the crime has ever been published. Short has been mischaracterized as a wayward sex worker or vagabond, and --- like the seductive femme fatales of film noir --- responsible for and perhaps deserving of her fate. William J. Mann, however, is interested in the truth. His extensive research reveals her as a young woman with curiosity and drive, who leveraged what little agency postwar society gave her to explore the world, defying draconian postwar gender expectations to settle down, marry and have children. It’s time to reexamine the woman who became known as the Black Dahlia.
Simon & Schuster | 9781668075906 

THE FINAL SCORE by Don Winslow (Thriller)
THE FINAL SCORE is a collection of six all-new short novels from Don Winslow. The multi-million-dollar casino heist is impossible. That’s what makes it irresistible to a legendary robber facing the rest of his life in prison for his “Final Score.” An ambitious, hard-working college-bound teenager has a side job delivering illegal booze to “The Sunday List” until a crooked cop, a seductive customer and a fake guru threaten to end his dreams. Two wise guys tell each other a “True Story” over breakfast at a diner. It’s all laughs until someone else has to pick up the check. And there are three more stories that are just as twisty: “The North Wing,” “The Lunch Break” and “Collision.”
William Morrow | 9780063450424 

A GREAT ACT OF LOVE by Heather Rose (Historical Fiction)
Van Diemen’s Land, 1839. A young woman of means arrives in Hobart, Australia, with a boy in her care. Leasing an old cottage next to an abandoned vineyard, Caroline Douglas must navigate an insular colony of exiles and opportunists and invent a new life on this island of extreme seasons and wild beauty. But Caroline is carrying a secret of such magnitude that it has led her to cross the world. It will take all she is made of to bring it into the light. A GREAT ACT OF LOVE soars from the French Revolution to London and New York on an epic voyage to Tasmania. Here is a story of a family with champagne in their blood, and an enterprising woman determined to rewrite their legacy. The lives of Caroline, her father and the residents of the island will collide in devastating and profound ways.
S&S/Summit Books | 9781668094914

THE HOUR OF THE WOLF: A Memoir by Fatima Bhutto (Memoir)
Fatima Bhutto was a teenager when her beloved father was assassinated. Ever since, she longed for a complete and happy family. Years later, still grappling with profound grief, she meets a charismatic man who offers her a new beginning --- promising love, healing, and the children she’s always dreamed of. But the dream soon unravels, revealing a toxic, manipulative relationship that holds her captive for over a decade. By the spring of 2020, Fatima finds herself secluded in the English countryside, accompanied by her most loyal companion: Coco, a fiercely protective Jack Russell terrier. In the presence of nature and Coco’s unwavering devotion, Fatima begins to question everything --- and slowly finds the courage to confront her suffering and reclaim her voice.
Scribner | 9781668075623

IF I RULED THE WORLD by Amy DuBois Barnett (Fiction)
It's 1999, and Nikki Rose is the only Black editor on the staff of a prestigious fashion magazine she once thought would be her ticket to becoming a respected editor in chief. But after being told one too many times by her boss that “Black girls don’t sell magazines,” she quits to take over Sugar, a struggling hip-hop music and lifestyle magazine with untapped potential. Thrown into an entirely new world of wealth, decadence and debauchery, Nikki has just six months to save Sugar --- and her own dreams. As she pulls all-nighters at the office and parties with New York City’s most influential bad boys, Nikki must prove that she has what it takes to lead. But her most dangerous challenge is evading Alonzo Griffin, her very married, very powerful ex-lover and former boss, who is determined to destroy both her and Sugar.
Flatiron Books | 9781250378125 

MAKE IT OUT ALIVE: A Quinn & Costa Thriller by Allison Brennan (Mystery/Thriller)
Three newlywed couples have disappeared from an exclusive resort in Florida, only to turn up dead soon after. It’s up to the FBI Mobile Response Team to catch a serial killer before anyone else ends up dead. And they have the perfect bait --- Detective Kara Quinn, who bears an uncanny resemblance to the targeted women. Undercover as newlyweds pretending to enjoy their honeymoon, Kara and FBI Agent Matt Costa set a flawless trap. When their plan works and they arrest the predator, Matt sends the rest of the team home. But on Monday morning, the couple doesn’t show up to work, and the MRT learns they never checked out of their hotel. As their team tries to find them, Matt and Kara learn the truth --- the killer wasn’t acting alone. He had a partner who succeeded where he failed. Kidnapped and forced into a twisted escape room, they need to find a way out.
Hanover Square Press | 9781335001412

MISSING SAM by Thrity Umrigar (Domestic Thriller)
One night after a party, old grievances surface between married couple Aliya and Sam, and the night ends badly with a heated argument. Sam goes for a run early the next morning to clear her head --- and doesn’t come back. Aliya reports her wife missing, but as a gay Muslim daughter of immigrants, she can't escape the scrutiny and suspicion of those around her. Scared and furious, and feeling isolated as strangers and acquaintances alike doubt her innocence, Aliya makes one wrong choice after another. She must fight to prove her innocence in the public eye even as she is torn between her fear that Sam is dead and her desire to find and save her wife. But is safety ever truly possible for them?
Algonquin Books | 9781643757629 

ONE SUN ONLY: Stories by Camille Bordas (Fiction/Short Stories)
A young woman takes stock after the burglary of her apartment. A teenager becomes obsessed with the obituaries in a weekly magazine. Grandchildren mourn the grandparents who loved them and the grandparents who didn’t. Painters and almost-painters try to distinguish Good Art from Bad Art. People grapple with life-altering illness, unrequited love, and promises they have every intention of keeping. Some win the lottery. Others don’t. In these sinewy, thoughtful stories, celebrated New Yorker contributor Camille Bordas delves into the mysteries of life, death, and all that happens in between. At once darkly funny and poignantly self-aware, Bordas’ writing offers a window into our shared, flawed humanity without insisting on a perfect understanding of our experiences.
Random House | 9780593729878

PENDERGAST: The Beginning by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child (Thriller)
It only took six months for the life of Special Agent Dwight Chambers to crumble around him. First, he lost his partner, and then, tragically, his wife. Returning to work at the New Orleans Field Office, Chambers is dismayed to find himself saddled with mentoring a brand-new FBI agent --- A. X. L. Pendergast. As Chambers tries to pull himself together, his enigmatic and exasperating junior partner pulls an outrageous stunt that gets both of them suspended. Pendergast welcomes the banishment, because it gives him the opportunity to investigate a peculiar murder in Mississippi that has captured his fancy. Chambers grudgingly goes along. Thanks in large part to Pendergast’s brilliance and unorthodox methods, they solve the case and find the killer. That is when the true horror begins.
Grand Central Publishing | 9781538765746 

THE SEVEN DAUGHTERS OF DUPREE by Nikesha Elise Williams (Fiction)
It’s 1995, and 14-year-old Tati is determined to uncover the identity of her father. But her mother, Nadia, keeps her secrets close, while her grandmother, Gladys, remains silent about the family’s past. As Tati digs deeper, she uncovers a legacy of family secrets, where every generation of Dupree women has posed more questions than answers. From Jubi in 1917, whose attempt to pass for white ends when she gives birth to Ruby; to Ruby’s fiery lust for Sampson in 1934 that leads to a baby of her own; to the night in 1980 that changed Nadia’s future forever, the Dupree women carry the weight of their heritage. Bound by a mysterious malediction that means they will only give birth to daughters, the Dupree women confront a legacy of pain, resilience and survival that began with an enslaved ancestor who risked everything for freedom.
Gallery/Scout Press | 9781668051948 

SUCH A PERFECT FAMILY by Nalini Singh (Domestic Thriller)
Love at first sight, a whirlwind Vegas wedding, a fairy-tale romance. For 43 days, Tavish Advani has been the happiest man in the world --- until his new life turns to ash, his wealthy in-laws’ house going up in a fiery explosion. His badly injured wife lies in a coma, her family all but annihilated. Tavish thought he'd left the sins of his Los Angeles life behind, but it’s not so easy to leave behind an investigation into the deaths of several high-profile women --- all of whom he'd professed to love. Desperately trying to clear his name as the authorities zero in, Tavish begins his own investigation into the fire --- and learns that his wife’s picture-perfect family may have been nothing but a meticulously constructed mirage. The truth is much darker than anything Tavish could’ve imagined.
Berkley | 9780593549797

VIGIL by George Saunders (Fiction)
Not for the first time, Jill “Doll” Blaine finds herself hurtling toward earth, reconstituting as she falls. She plummets towards her newest charge, yet another soul she must usher into the afterlife, and lands headfirst in the circular drive of his ornate mansion. She has performed this sacred duty 343 times since her own death. Her charges, as a rule, have been greatly comforted in their final moments. But this charge, she soon discovers, isn’t like the others. The powerful K. J. Boone will not be consoled, because he has nothing to regret. He lived a big, bold life, and the world is better for it. Isn’t it? Crowds of people and animals --- worldly and otherworldly, alive and dead --- arrive, clamoring for a reckoning. Birds swarm the dying man’s room, and two oil-business cronies from decades past show up with chilling plans for his post-death future.
Random House | 9780525509622 

THE WINTER WARRIORS by Olivier Norek (Historical Thriller)
November 1939: The Soviet Union invades its small, relatively defenseless neighbor Finland, just three months after the declaration of World War II. So began what is known as the Winter War. A makeshift Finnish army of soldiers, workers and farmers must face off against columns of tanks and millions of Stalin's Red Army fighters. In a dramatic and deeply moving narrative based in part on diaries, journals and accounts of participants, Olivier Norek captures the horror and tragedy of war. Soldiers go to battle with a shortage of weapons, and cold becomes both enemy and friend --- causing wounds to freeze and limiting the movement of the invaders. The legendary sniper Simo Häyhä, nicknamed the "White Death," puts terror in the hearts and minds of the Russians.
Atlantic Monthly Press | 9780802167651

On Sale the Week of January 26th in Paperback

January 27th

BEEN WRONG SO LONG IT FEELS LIKE RIGHT: A King Oliver Novel by Walter Mosley (Mystery)
Joe King Oliver’s beloved Grandma B has found a tumor, and at her age, treatment is high-risk. She has only a single, dying wish: to see her long-lost son. King has been estranged from his father, Chief Odin Oliver, since he was a young boy. But Grandma B’s pure ask has opened King’s heart, and he gains a deeper understanding of his father. Although Chief was released from prison years ago, he’s been living underground ever since. Now, King not only must find Chief, he has to prove his innocence. Meanwhile, Marigold Hart, the wife of a powerful California billionaire, has gone missing, along with their seven-year-old daughter. Orr is brutish and dangerous, and King realizes after locating her that it’s in her best interest to stay hidden. But are his motives pure?
Mulholland Books | 9780316573276

A CURSE CARVED IN BONE: Book Two of the Saga of the Unfated by Danielle L. Jensen (Historical Fantasy/Romance)
The secret of her divine heritage revealed, Freya finds herself on a path that will see thousands of lives lost to the magic in her blood. Desperate to avoid this dark fate, she risks an alliance with Skaland’s greatest enemy to seek answers from the seer who foretold her future --- the same seer who sent Bjorn to kill her. The blood oaths that bind Freya demand that she keep him close as she hunts for a way to avert the looming war. Her magic draws her to the front lines of an old enmity, embroiling her with Nordeland’s Unfated --- children of the gods who serve the king she was raised to fear. The same king who is now willing to fight at her back. Despite the desire that burns hot between Bjorn and Freya, his growing distrust of her chosen path threatens to drag them further apart.
Del Rey | 9780593599884

DEAD IN THE FRAME: A Pentecost and Parker Mystery by Stephen Spotswood (Historical Mystery)
Wealthy financier and connoisseur of crime Jessup Quincannon is dead, and famed detective Lillian Pentecost is under arrest for his murder. Willowjean “Will” Parker knows for a fact that her boss is innocent. She just doesn’t know if she can prove it. With Lillian locked away in New York’s infamous women’s prison, the House of D, Will is left to root out the real killer. Was it a member of Quincannon’s murder-obsessed Black Museum Club? His jilted lover? Or the mob hit-man who disappeared just after the shots were fired? With the city barreling toward the trial of the century, Will is desperate to get her boss out from behind bars before her reputation is destroyed. Because the House of D is no kind place, especially for a woman with multiple sclerosis. Or one with so many enemies.
Vintage Crime/Black Lizard | 9780593687123

DEAR DEBBIE by Freida McFadden (Psychological Thriller)
Paperback Original
For years, Debbie Mullen has compiled all of her best advice into her column, Dear Debbie, where the wives of New England come for sympathy and neighborly advice. Through her work, Debbie has heard from countless women who are ignored, belittled, or even abused by their husbands. And Debbie does her best to guide them in the right direction. Or at least, she did. These days, Debbie's life seems to be spiraling out of control. She just lost her job. Something strange is happening with her teenage daughters. And her husband is keeping secrets, according to the tracking app she installed on his phone. Now, Debbie is done being the bigger person. She's done being reasonable and practical. It's time to take her own advice. And now it's time for payback against all the people in her life who deserve it the most.
Poisoned Pen Press | 9781464249624

A DRAGON OF BLACK GLASS by James Rollins (Fantasy/Adventure)
With the apocalyptic threat of moonfall looming ever closer, Nyx and her allies must venture into the eternally sunblasted lands to search for an ancient weapon buried untold millennia ago. All the while, enemies close upon her flanks, and a greater danger lurks ahead. For beneath a desert turned to glass, hidden from the scorching heat, life thrives --- both wondrous and monstrous. But a more fearsome menace lies even deeper, where an ancient army has been seeded to protect a secret from any who dare seek it out. Can Nyx truly trust those at her side? Or even herself? For while her gifts grow ever stronger, so does the danger of losing herself to a dark madness. Worst yet, the same afflicts Bashaliia, her winged and bonded brother. Elsewhere, a looming war explodes across the Crown, forging new alliances and greater enmities, as lands around the globe are drawn into fiery conflict.
Tor Books | 9781250768186

A FIELD GUIDE TO MURDER by Michelle L. Cullen (Mystery)
Paperback Original
Once a globe-trotting anthropologist, Harry Lancaster is now certain that all his grand adventures are behind him. Recently widowed and suffering from a fractured hip, Harry spends his days and nights behind a pair of binoculars, nose-deep in his neighbors’ affairs. His millennial caregiver, Emma, is determined to get him out of his armchair and back into the world. Fate intervenes when Harry’s mysterious neighbor, Sue, phones, pleading for help. But instead of rescuing her, Harry and Emma find Sue dead: poisoned, days after a break-in at Sue’s house. Harry resolves to find out what happened, and Emma insists on going along for the ride. Together, they discover motives and suspects abound in Harry’s quaint condominium community --- putting them both in the crosshairs of a cold-blooded killer.
Crooked Lane Books | 9798892424639

FIRE EXIT by Morgan Talty (Fiction)
From the porch of his home, Charles Lamosway has watched the life he might have had unfold across the river on Maine’s Penobscot Reservation. He caught brief moments of his neighbor Elizabeth’s life. But there’s something deeper and more dangerous than the river that divides him from her and the rest of the tribal community. It’s the secret that Elizabeth is his daughter, a secret Charles is no longer willing to keep. Now, it’s been weeks since he’s seen Elizabeth, and he's worried. As he attempts to hold on to and care for what he can, he becomes increasingly haunted by his past. Forced to confront a lost childhood on the reservation, a love affair cut short, and the death of his beloved stepfather, Charles contends with questions he’s long been afraid to ask.
Tin House Books | 9781963108491

GOOD DIRT by Charmaine Wilkerson (Fiction)
When 10-year-old Ebby Freeman heard the gunshot, time stopped. And when she saw her brother, Baz, lying on the floor surrounded by the shattered pieces of a centuries-old jar, life as Ebby knew it shattered as well. The crime was never solved, and because the Freemans were one of the only Black families in a particularly well-to-do enclave of New England, the case has had an enduring, voyeuristic pull for the public. When Ebby's high-profile romance falls apart without any explanation, she flees to France, only for her past to follow her there. And as she tries to process what's happened, she begins to think about the other loss her family suffered on that day 18 years ago --- the stoneware jar that had been in their family for generations, brought North by an enslaved ancestor.
Ballantine Books | 9780593358382

HARMATTAN SEASON by Tochi Onyebuchi (Hard-boiled Noir/Historical Fantasy)
Work has dried up for veteran and private eye Boubacar, and he’d rather be left alone to deal with his bills as the Harmattan rolls in to coat the city in dust. But Bouba is a down-on-his-luck deux fois, suspended between two cultures and two worlds. When a bleeding woman stumbles onto his doorway, only to vanish just as quickly, Bouba reluctantly finds himself enmeshed in the secrets of a city boiling on the brink of violence. The French occupiers are keen to keep the peace at any cost, and the indigenous dugulen have long been shattered into restless factions vying for a chance to reclaim their lost heritage and abilities. As each hard-won clue reveals horrifying new truths, Bouba may have to carve out parts of himself he’s long kept hidden and decide what he’s willing to offer next.
Tor Books | 9781250814494

HEARTWOOD by Amity Gaige (Literary Thriller/Mystery)
Deep in the Maine woods, an experienced hiker goes missing. She is 42-year-old Valerie Gillis, who has vanished 200 miles from her final destination. Alone in the wilderness, Valerie pours her thoughts into fractured, poetic letters to her mother as she battles the elements and struggles to keep hoping. At the heart of the investigation is Beverly, the determined Maine State Game Warden tasked with finding Valerie, who leads the search on the ground. Meanwhile, Lena, a 76-year-old birdwatcher in a Connecticut retirement community, becomes an unexpected armchair detective. Roving between these compelling narratives, a puzzle emerges, intensifying the frantic search, as Valerie’s disappearance may not be accidental.
Simon & Schuster | 9781668063613

HER COLD JUSTICE by Robert Dugoni (Legal Thriller)
Paperback Original
In a quiet South Seattle neighborhood, a suspected drug smuggler and his girlfriend are murdered in their home. When a young man named Michael Westbrook is accused of the brutal double homicide, his uncle, JP Harrison, turns to Keera Duggan to defend him. The evidence is circumstantial --- Michael worked with one of the victims, drugs were found in his possession, and he bolted from authorities. Ruthless star prosecutor Anh Tran has gotten convictions on much less. With the testimony of two prison informants, the case looks grave. To free her client, Keera must dig deep before Tran crushes both of them. As the investigation gets more twisted with each new find, Keera is swept up in a mystery with far-reaching consequences. This case isn’t just murder. It’s looking like a conspiracy.
Thomas & Mercer | 9781662524639

HOW TO SLEEP AT NIGHT by Elizabeth Harris (Fiction)
Ethan and Gabe have been a devoted couple for years. Sure, they may have drifted to different ends of the political spectrum, but their marriage still has its spark. Then one night, Ethan makes an announcement: he wants to run for Congress as a Republican, but only if he has progressive Gabe’s blessing. For weeks, a slightly queasy Gabe struggles between supporting his husband and maintaining his own lefty ideals. In a nearby town, suburban mom Nicole wonders what happened to her younger self --- living in New York City, freely dating men and women, and on a path to a career in the art world. Nicole feels like an accessory in her husband’s life and like she’s given up on the goals she had for herself. Then an old flame re-enters her life unexpectedly. That woman is Ethan’s sister, Kate.
William Morrow Paperbacks | 9780063353244

IF YOU WERE MY DAUGHTER: A Memoir of Healing an Unmothered Heart by Marianne Richmond (Memoir)
At nine years old, Marianne Richmond's life is upended when she collapses on her kitchen floor with full-body convulsions. "Pinched nerve," says the ER doctor, a baffling explanation. But when one episode becomes many, it's clear something is wrong. Marianne desperately hopes for help and healing, but her emotionally unavailable mother --- still reeling from her own past trauma --- refuses medication on her behalf, preferring to try prayer and homeopathy. At age 18, a full-body seizure in Marianne's dorm room leads her to a diagnosis, medication and neurological intervention. Physically, she feels "fixed," but emotional healing proves more elusive. When her mother becomes ill, Marianne has a choice to make. Will she be present for the mother who rarely felt present to her?
Sourcebooks | 9781464231933

JANE AUSTEN’S BOOKSHELF: A Rare Book Collector's Quest to Find the Women Writers Who Shaped a Legend by Rebecca Romney (Literary Criticism)
Long before she was a rare book dealer, Rebecca Romney was a devoted reader of Jane Austen. She loved that Austen’s books took the lives of women seriously, explored relationships with wit and confidence, and always allowed for the possibility of a happy ending. She read and reread them, often wishing Austen wrote just one more. JANE AUSTEN’S BOOKSHELF investigates the disappearance of Austen’s heroes --- women writers who were erased from the Western canon --- to reveal who they were, what they meant to Austen, and how they were forgotten. Each chapter profiles a different writer and recounts Romney’s experience reading them, finding rare copies of their works, and drawing on connections between their words and Austen’s.
Scribner | 9781982190255

A KILLING COLD by Kate Alice Marshall (Psychological Thriller/Mystery)
When Theodora Scott met Connor, a member of the powerful Dalton family, she fell in love in an instant. Six months later, he’s brought her to Idlewood, his family’s isolated winter retreat, to win over his skeptical relatives. Theo has tried to ignore the threatening messages on her phone, but she can’t ignore the footprints in the snow outside the cabin window or the strange sense of familiarity she has about this place. Then, in a disused cabin, Theo finds something impossible: a photo of herself as a child. A photo taken at Idlewood. Theo has almost no recollection of her earliest years, but now she begins to piece together the fragments of her memories. Someone here has a shocking secret that they will do anything to keep hidden, and Theo is in terrible danger.
Flatiron Books: Pine & Cedar | 9781250343079

PEOPLE OF MEANS by Nancy Johnson (Historical Fiction)
In the fall of 1959, Freda Gilroy arrives on the campus of Fisk University full of hope. Soon, the ugliness of the Jim Crow South intrudes, and she’s thrust into a movement for social change. Freda finds herself caught between two worlds, and two loves, and must decide how much she’s willing to sacrifice for the advancement of her people. In 1992 Chicago, Freda’s daughter, Tulip, is an ambitious PR professional on track for an exciting career, if workplace politics and racial microaggressions don’t get in her way. But with the ruling in the Rodney King trial weighing heavily on her, Tulip feels called to action. When she makes an irreversible professional misstep as she seeks to uplift her community, she must decide, just like her mother had three decades prior, what she’s willing to risk in the name of justice and equality.
William Morrow Paperbacks | 9780063157538

PRESUMED GUILTY by Scott Turow (Legal Thriller)
Rusty Sabich is a retired judge attempting a third act in life with a loving soon-to-be wife, Bea. But the peace that’s taken Rusty so long to find evaporates when Bea’s young adult son, Aaron, living under their supervision while on probation for drug possession, disappears. If Aaron doesn’t return soon, he will be sent back to jail. Aaron eventually turns up with a vague story about a camping trip with his troubled girlfriend, Mae, that ended in a fight and a long hitchhike home. Days later, when she still hasn’t returned, suspicion falls on Aaron. And when Mae is subsequently discovered dead, Aaron is arrested and set for trial on charges of first-degree murder. Faced with few choices and even fewer hopes, Bea begs Rusty to return to court one last time, to defend her son and to save their last best hope for happiness.
Grand Central Publishing | 9781538706381

THE QUIET NEIGHBOR by J.D. Barker and Adam Roach (Domestic Thriller)
Paperback Original
Cynthia Burrows thought she'd built the perfect life --- successful law career, loving husband, beautiful daughter. But when 18-year-old Tori vanishes without a trace, Cynthia's carefully constructed world begins to crumble. The school says Tori was excused by family. Security footage shows her leaving with an older man. And the boy she was supposed to date? His name sends chills down Cynthia's spine --- Alexander Beaufort. That's impossible. Alexander Beaufort is the serial killer who destroyed Cynthia's childhood, murdered her best friend, and forced her into witness protection 20 years ago. He's supposed to be locked away forever. But someone is playing a deadly game, leaving clues that drag Cynthia back to her darkest memories. With only three days to find her daughter, she must confront the monster from her past and the shocking secrets Tori has been hiding.
Hampton Creek Press | 9798990746190

THE RE-DO LIST by Denise Williams (Romantic Comedy)
Paperback Original
Willow experienced all her big firsts with her high school sweetheart. Now, reeling from their very public breakup, she wants to get a re-do on those important moments. While dog-sitting for her brother during his deployment, she has a chance to start over, and spending time with his best friend gives her the confidence to start checking items off her “Re-Do list.” Deacon promised his best friend two things when Cruz left for a deployment: he would look out for Willow and keep his hands off Cruz’s baby sister. “Operation Re-Do” is innocent enough at first: Deacon likes Willow, and he’s willing to help her out any way he can. But when the list of firsts turns from a first dance to first kisses and more, Deacon can’t deny the connection he feels to Willow.
Berkley | 9780593641453

THIS IS A LOVE STORY by Jessica Soffer (Fiction)
For 50 years, Abe and Jane have been coming to Central Park. They came alone to get away from each other and together for important discussions and pivotal life moments. The Park has been their witness for half a century of love. Until now. Jane is dying, and Abe is recounting their life together as a way of keeping them going: the parts they knew --- their courtship and early marriage, their blossoming creative lives --- and the parts they didn’t always want to know --- the determined young student of Abe’s looking for a love story of her own, and their son, Max, who believes his mother chose art over parenthood, and who has avoided love and intimacy at all costs.
Dutton | 9780593851289

THE VANISHING POINT: Stories by Paul Theroux (Fiction/Short Stories)
The stories in Paul Theroux’s fascinating collection are both exotic and domestic, their settings ranging from Hawaii to Africa and New England. Each focuses on life’s vanishing points --- a moment when seemingly all lines running through one’s life converge, and one can see no farther, yet must deal with the implications. With the insight, subtlety and empathy that has long characterized his work, Theroux has written deeply moving stories about memory, longing and the passing of time, once again reclaiming his status as a master of the form.
Mariner Books | 9780063432529

WATCH YOUR BACK by Terri Parlato (Domestic Thriller)
After a whirlwind courtship, psychiatrist Eve Thayer and her husband, Nathan, have settled into domestic life. But Eve's stress is mounting, both professionally and personally. Though the clinic where she works has been remodeled since its notorious days as an institution for the criminally insane, she feels increasingly uneasy there. And in her own neighborhood, a break-in at a nearby empty house hasn't helped either. Detective Rita Myers hasn’t yet figured out if Eve is a target or a suspect, but every disturbing discovery in this usually peaceful neighborhood seems to revolve around her. Only as a deadly ice storm crashes through does it become clear just how far from perfect Eve and Nathan’s lives really are. And as the cracks in the surface come to light, so do the sinister secrets that lie beneath.
Kensington | 9781496738639

WE ARE WATCHING by Alison Gaylin (Psychological Thriller)
Meg Russo and her husband, Justin, were driving their daughter, Lily, to Ithaca College. Then a car swerved up beside them, and Meg lost control of her vehicle. Justin didn’t survive the accident. Four months later, Meg works to distract herself from her grief and guilt, reopening her small local bookstore. But soon after she returns to work, bizarre messages and visitors begin to arrive, with strangers threatening Meg and Lily. They are obsessed with a young adult novel titled The Prophesy. An online group of believers are convinced that it heralds the apocalypse, and social media posts link the book --- and Meg’s reclusive musician father --- to Satanism. These conspiracy theorists vow to seek revenge on The Prophesy’s author: Meg. As the threats turn violent, Meg begins to suspect that Justin’s death may not have been an accident.
William Morrow Paperbacks | 9780063000964

WILD WEST VILLAGE: Not a Memoir (Unless I Win an Oscar, Die Tragically, or Score a Country #1) by Lola Kirke (Memoir/Essays)
Raised by a rock star father and clothing designer mother, Lola Kirke and her older siblings (including actress Jemima and celebrity doula Domino) spent their childhoods freshly plucked from their English heritage in an eclectic West Village brownstone, hosting everyone from Cuban exiles to Courtney Love. But behind the enviable exterior of worldly coolness was a home in disarray. In WILD WEST VILLAGE, Kirke chronicles a search for self amidst the chaos of the affairs, addictions and afflictions surrounding her, detailing misadventures in everything from masturbation to marijuana, Cadbury’s to country music, and a dream of salvation on the silver screen.
Simon & Schuster | 9781668035580

WOMEN OF A PROMISCUOUS NATURE by Donna Everhart (Historical Fiction)
Paperback Original
On a brisk February morning while walking to the diner where she works, 24-year-old Ruth Foster is stopped by the local sheriff. He insists she accompany him to a health clinic, threatening to arrest her if she doesn’t undergo testing in order to preserve decency and prevent the spread of sexual disease. Though Ruth has never shared more than a chaste kiss with a man, by day’s end she is one of dozens of women held at the State Industrial Farm Colony for Women. Superintendent Dorothy Baker, convinced that she’s transforming degenerate souls into upstanding members of society, oversees the women’s medical treatment and “training” until they’re deemed ready for parole. Sooner or later, everyone at the Colony learns to abide by Mrs. Baker’s rule book or face the consequences --- solitary confinement, grueling work assignments, and worse.
Kensington | 9781496740724

On Sale the Week of February 2nd in Hardcover

February 3rd

THE ALPHABET SLEUTHS by Laura Jensen Walker (Mystery)
At 69 years old, Claire Reynolds is changing things up. She’s volunteering. She's learning to rollerblade. She’s rescued a shelter dog. And today, she’s killed a man. It wasn’t on her to-do list, but stuff happens. Besides, the man in question was strangling her good friend, Daphne, so what’s a gal to do? Scream, possibly. Call the cops. Or --- at retired officer Daphne’s insistence --- call in the rest of their senior gal pals, roll up the body in a blanket, and toss it off a cliff. The dead man is a member of the local crime family, and if the police get involved, it’s not just Daphne at risk, it’s all of them. But the body is just the start. Soon the Alphabet Girls --- Atsuko, Barbara, Claire and Daphne --- must transform into the Alphabet Sleuths if they’re to keep their liberty...and their lives.
Severn House | 9781448317295 

CLUTCH by Emily Nemens (Fiction)
As undergrads, Gregg, Reba, Hillary, Bella and Carson formed the kind of rare bond that college brochures promise --- friendship that lasts a lifetime. Two decades later, the women remain firmly tethered through their ever-unfurling group chat and now come together for a long-overdue reunion. Gregg is facing a huge decision about her political future. Reba is deep in IVF treatments while caring for her aging parents. Hillary's medical career is going great, but her husband's struggles with addiction have derailed their life. Bella faces the biggest case in her career as a litigator as her home life crumbles around her. And Carson is working on a new novel while forging a possible relationship with the father she's never met. Twenty years into their shared friendship, the stakes are higher than ever, and they must help one another reconcile professional ambition with personal tumult.
Tin House Books | 9781963108668 

DAWN OF THE NORTH: The Ashen Series, Book Three by Demi Winters (Historical Fantasy/Romance) 
The lost Volsik heir has finally returned to the people of Íseldur, and even with the warrior who’s captured her heart standing by her side, Silla’s task is monumental. She must earn the loyalty of the northern jarls to drive Ivar Ironheart from the throne and restore peace in the kingdom. But the secret she vigilantly guards threatens to ruin all her plans: A shard of a god lives in her mind, twisting her thoughts and deeds to His will. Meanwhile, held captive on the mysterious isle of Zagadka, Saga Volsik fights to return to her sister in Íseldur. But when King Ivar sets his sights on the Zagadkians, she’s forced to make an impossible choice: fight for the man who stole her --- and is now hell-bent on marrying her --- or let the innocent people of his kingdom die.
Delacorte Press | 9780593975657

EVERY EXIT BRINGS YOU HOME by Naeem Murr (Fiction) 
As a financial crisis looms, Jamal “Jack” Shaban is trying to save his neighbors from bankruptcy. For his flight attendant colleagues, he’s an object of desire, even love, particularly for his sweetly bawdy Wisconsinite best friend, Birdy. Birdy knows nothing about Dimra, Jack’s traditional Muslim wife, with whom Jack is desperate to have a child. Nor does Dimra know about Jack’s attraction to Marcia: an angry single mom new to the building. The resulting tangle of love, desire and conflict returns Jack to the violence of 1980s Gaza, where a taboo affair nearly destroyed his life. A man of many sides --- adulterer, devoted husband, fixer, community leader, liar, and the survivor of human and cosmic cruelty in the past and the novel’s present --- Jack is a paragon of both desire and hope.
W. W. Norton & Company | 9781324117902

EVERY HAPPINESS by Reena Shah (Fiction)
Deepa and Ruchi are 12 years old when they meet at their Catholic school in India. As the two girls grow up, their friendship is marked by intimacy, jealousy and suppressed desire. When Deepa marries a doctor and moves from India to the suburbs of Connecticut, Ruchi quickly finds an engineer bound for the same state and follows her friend across the world. Deepa's daughter seeks affection that Deepa refuses to give, and Ruchi's son resists her smothering care. At the same time, Deepa and Ruchi find their closeness tested by a growing class disparity, competing family needs and the differences in their desires. Ultimately, when Ruchi discovers a dangerous secret about Deepa's husband's wealth, both women are forced to weigh the tangled bonds of their friendship with their lives, and their families', in the burgeoning Indian American community.
Bloomsbury Publishing | 9781639733002 

THE EXES by Leodora Darlington (Psychological Thriller)
Natalie has only ever wanted to find “the one.” The perfect man, the happy family she never had. But each time she thinks she is finally getting somewhere, she’s bitterly disappointed. Another red line through a list of exes. And that was before the night of the Big Fallout that left her even more alone. Then along comes James, and Natalie thinks her luck has finally turned. Maybe he’s the one for her. Maybe he’s the one she’s been waiting for all along. Maybe he won’t wind up dead. But the harder Natalie tries to be a “normal” wife, the more world-upending truths are brought to her door, leaving her unsure of who she really is, and much less what she’ll do --- leaving her to question if there is a monster within her or if there is a villain toying with her from the outside.
Dutton | 9798217043859 

FAMILY DRAMA by Rebecca Fallon (Fiction) 
In 1982, Susan Bliss is a beautiful young woman who is passionate about her art. It’s impossible not to fall in love with her, and so Alcott, a practical professor, does --- hopelessly. This leads to an unconventional arrangement that takes Susan back and forth between her life in New England as a wife and mother and the bright lights of Los Angeles, where she becomes the beloved star of a daytime soap. In the present, Susan’s twins grow up in the shadow of her all-consuming absence. Sebastian, a sensitive artist, cleaves to her memory. Viola, resentful of Susan’s torn allegiances, distances herself from the memories of her. But when Viola runs into her mother’s old costar, Orson Grey --- now a renowned Hollywood star --- she finds herself falling deeply in love with him and begins to put together the pieces of a mother she never really knew.
Simon & Schuster | 9781668089477

THE FLACK by Brad Parks (Thriller)
Curt Hinton and Angel Reddish are former college roommates turned lifelong best friends who always have each other’s backs. So when Angel offers Curt the chance to leave his job at a failing newspaper and take a lucrative position as head of corporate communications at Balco, the Bay Area Logistics Company, Curt takes the leap. But on Curt’s first day at Balco, he learns that Angel was killed the night before during a carjacking. Tasked with writing a press release about the crime, Curt quickly discovers that the carjacking wasn’t random --- it was a targeted attack by professional killers. As Curt is drawn into the mystery of his best friend’s death, he discovers that there are many possible suspects --- and there’s a lot more danger swirling around his new employer than he ever could have imagined.
Oceanview Publishing | 9781608096473 

GOOD PEOPLE by Patmeena Sabit (Fiction)
The Sharaf family is the picture of success: prosperous, rich and happy. They came to this country as refugees with nothing more than the clothes on their backs. And now, after years of hard work, they live in the most exclusive neighborhood, their growing family attending the most prestigious schools. Zorah, the eldest daughter, is the apple of her father’s eye. When an unthinkable tragedy strikes, everyone is left reeling, and the family is thrust into the court of public opinion. There is talk that behind closed doors the Sharafs’ happy household was anything but. Did the Sharaf family achieve the American dream? Or was the image of the model immigrant family just a façade?
Crown | 9780593801062 

IN HER DEFENSE by Philippa Malicka (Psychological Thriller)
The whole country has been riveted by the trial: Beloved TV star and national treasure Anna Finbow, standing in court, accusing her daughter’s therapist, Jean Guest, of brainwashing her daughter, Mary, for her own financial gain. Jean insists that Mary’s traumatic memories arise from her upbringing and her time studying at a prestigious art school in Rome --- wounds only Jean’s therapy can heal. But as the trial unfolds, it’s Augusta “Gus” Bird, Anna’s former employee --- a seemingly insignificant bystander, a nobody --- who holds the key to unraveling the tangled web of lies and deceit. What really happened to Mary in Rome? And if her memories can’t be trusted, how will they ever uncover the truth behind her estrangement?
Scribner | 9781668033623 

ISLES OF THE EMBERDARK: A Cosmere Novel by Brandon Sanderson
(Fantasy/Adventure)
All his life, Sixth of the Dusk has been a traditional trapper of Aviar --- the supernatural birds his people bond with --- on the deadly island of Patji. Then one fateful night, he propels his people into a race to modernize before they can be conquered by the Ones Above, invaders from the stars who want to exploit the Aviar. When a chance comes to sail into the expanse of the emberdark beyond a mystical portal, Dusk sets off to find his people’s salvation. Elsewhere in the emberdark is a young dragon chained in human form: Starling of the starship Dynamic. She and her ragtag crew of exiles are deep in debt and on the brink of losing their freedom. So when she finds an ancient map to a hidden portal between the emberdark and the physical realm, she seizes the chance at a lucrative discovery. These unlikely allies just might be the solution to each other’s crises.
Tor Books | 9781250415394 

IT'S NOT HER by Mary Kubica (Psychological Thriller) 
Courtney Gray’s peaceful vacation turns into a nightmare when she discovers her brother and sister-in-law dead in their lakeside cottage. Her niece, Reese, is missing. Her nephew, Wyatt, is asleep upstairs --- unharmed. As police swarm the quiet resort, dark truths about Courtney’s family --- and the town itself --- begin to surface. Is Reese a victim...or the killer? With everyone hiding something, Courtney races to uncover the terrible mystery. But the closer she gets, the harder it is to know who --- or what --- to trust.
Park Row | 9780778387992 

JIGSAW: An Alex Delaware Novel by Jonathan Kellerman (Psychological Thriller) 
This one looked like a slam dunk: a young woman found dead at her kitchen table, DNA on cigarette butts linking quickly to an ex-boyfriend with a criminal record. Or so homicide lieutenant Milo Sturgis thought. Then everything changed. That’s when Milo called in psychologist Alex Delaware, his best friend and a long-term consultant on “those cases.” The ones that are different. Then there’s another one: an old woman found brutally murdered, her body stashed in a deep freeze and mutilated. Her home is an extreme hoarder’s den, virtually impassable due to years of stored trash and apparently meaningless objects. Except for the envelopes of cash stashed among the garbage. As Alex and Milo dig deeper into the seemingly unrelated crimes, they discover shocking links between the victims.
Ballantine Books | 9780593497715 

A KILLING IN CANNABIS: A True Story of Love, Murder, and California Weed by Scott Eden (True Crime)
Santa Cruz is one of the country’s surf meccas and a favored getaway of the Silicon Valley elite. For decades, marijuana has been cultivated, consumed and trafficked in these mountains. And it’s where Silicon Valley entrepreneur Tushar Atre was found brutally murdered. Atre was the leader among a clutch of tech execs and venture capitalists with a voracious appetite for risk, work and money. When he met Rachael Lynch, a maverick cannabis grower and mover of product, he had a vision of how their lives could come together in business and in love. Atre sought to disrupt the newly legal cannabis trade by funding a start-up with black-market capital. This illegal pursuit would entangle him with an array of colorful and dangerous characters, many of whom had compelling reason to want him dead.
Spiegel & Grau | 9781954118621 

LA LUCCI by Susan Lucci, with Laura Morton (Memoir)
Emmy Award-winning actress and legendary television icon Susan Lucci --- affectionately known as "La Lucci" since her early days on “All My Children” --- is set to captivate audiences once again with her second memoir. This deeply personal and compelling new book explores Lucci's journey through love, joy, reinvention and resilience in the face of profound loss --- both personal and professional. With her signature warmth and honesty, Lucci shares the pivotal moments that have shaped her perspective and ability to move forward with gratitude, hope and grace. In addition to intimate stories from her remarkable career and personal life, LA LUCCI features a special chapter entitled "Thank You for Asking" where she answers the most frequently asked questions from her devoted fans across the world.
Blackstone Publishing | 9798874868284 

LITTLE ONE by Olivia Muenter (Fiction)
Catharine West’s parents built a life that was simple and community-focused, an ethos that soon attracted others in need of a change. For a time, her magnetic father was enough to keep the farm thriving and temptation outside its gates. But as she grew older, the farm and family she was raised to love faded into something darker. It’s now been a decade since Catharine abandoned the farm, and she has done her best to reinvent her life, until an email from a charismatic journalist interrupts her peace. Her first instinct is to ignore the stranger’s prying questions. But when she realizes that the journalist knows far more than he’s letting on, she reconsiders. If Catharine can stay one step ahead of him, she may be able to find the one person she never wanted to leave behind --- her sister, Linna --- and make sure her own secrets remain buried.
Little, Brown and Company | 9780316594561 

MAN ONE: An Amos Walker Mystery by Loren D. Estleman (Hard-boiled Mystery)
Young widow Sage Holland doesn’t look like a murderer --- and that’s because she isn’t one. The beautiful dame has driven non-stop from her home in frozen Alaska to seek out the services of private investigator Amos Walker, bringing not just the ice and snow with her. Sage has a stalker: her late husband’s vengeful brother, who’s determined to make her pay for a crime she didn’t commit. Someone killed David, but it wasn’t her. Walker knows not to take the words of husky-voiced, sorrowful women at face value. But Sage is in sore need of protection, and Walker’s hunt for clues on Detroit’s wintry streets soon leads to far more dead bodies than expected. He’ll have to use every trick he’s learned if he’s to keep not just his client’s blood, but also his own from staining the snow.
Severn House | 9781448316052

MASS MOTHERING by Sarah Bruni (Fiction)
A. is an amateur translator. Adrift and burdened by debt following a medical trauma, she makes rent caring for a young boy who is not and could never be her own. Her nights are spent on the dance floor, chasing spontaneous connection. There, she encounters N., who shares her numbed state and sometimes her bed. Among N.’s meager possessions, A. comes across a slim book about an unnamed foreign town of disappearing boys. The book, Field Notes, documents the stories of a community of mothers who assemble to mourn their missing sons together. When a near-assault stuns A. out of her inertia, she takes off for the city where Field Notes was written in search of its author and the end of the story. But A.’s digging leads her instead to the traces of a murdered poet, a mysterious woman whose legacy will intersect unexpectedly and pivotally with A.’s own life.
Henry Holt and Co. | 9781250392619 

MURDER IN THE READING ROOM: A 42nd Street Library Mystery by Con Lehane (Mystery) 
Raymond Ambler, crime-fiction curator at New York City’s prestigious 42nd Street Library, doesn’t consider it a big deal when he misses a call from visiting professor Robin Cartwright…until she turns up dead in a hotel room. Ambler feels duty-bound to find the culprit, and not just because the police half-suspect he’s guilty of the crime. It wasn’t just Professor Cartwright’s phone call he missed, but any sign that she was in danger. Robin was researching accidental deaths she believed were murders. Could her work have gotten her killed? Soon Ambler is knee-deep in suspects, including a shady ex-husband, a slippery pastor, and at least one of his own colleagues. If he doesn’t catch a ruthless killer soon, it won’t be just his own life in danger, but also those of his partner and newborn child.
Severn House | 9781448314553 

ON THIS GROUND: Hardship and Hope at the Toughest Prep School in America by Anthony DePalma (Social Science/Education) 
In 1967, as the city of Newark, New Jersey, was engulfed by civil unrest after the beating of a Black cab driver by white police officers, the monks of Newark Abbey stood on the roof of the monastery and watched their city burn. In the years that followed, as crushing poverty and racial tensions in the city worsened, some of the monks voted to leave --- and St. Benedict’s Prep, the school they had run for over a century, was forced to close its doors. ON THIS GROUND is the story of the monks who voted to stay put, who would soon reopen St. Benedict’s and devote their lives to educating the students who had become their neighbors. But it’s also the inspiring story of its students who show up every day and form the beating heart of the school, which is now widely considered one of the most successful inner-city educational movements in the country.
William Morrow | 9780063464391

ONE & ONLY by Maurene Goo (Romance)
Cassia Park believes in soul mates. It’s her family business after all. For centuries, Park women have peered into clients’ past lives to find their one true love, their fated. This magical secret is why One & Only Matchmaking has a 100% guarantee…for everyone but Cassia. For 10 years, Cass has been searching for her fated, a man named Daniel Nam. But he’s still nowhere to be found. And so, on the eve of her 40th birthday, Cass decides to do something for herself. She impulsively has a fling with Ellis. He’s 28 and not destined to be the love of her life. But she’s surprised by their connection, and their fling feels like something more --- up to the moment he introduces her to his boss: Daniel Nam. As she battles between fate and chance, head and heart, a family secret is revealed that will make her question everything she’s ever known. 
G.P. Putnam's Sons | 9798217181162 

THE REDLINE HEIST: Book 1 of The Doomsday Artifacts by Michael Mersault (Science Fiction/Adventure) 
Sophisticated, megarich thrill seekers drawn to a backwater system of the Confederated Worlds find more than they expected within the catacombs of a mysterious alien base: not only the anachronistic road warrior theme park where 20th-century “Old Earth” motor vehicles are raced for riches and glory, but an alien secret that has hidden within the asteroid for millennia. While the super-rich conduct business both licit and illicit, Warren Springer Stowe, self-professed acquisitions expert, and Cherry Aisha, veteran of the infamous Blue Light Brigade, become motorsport gladiators in a deadly series of high-speed clashes --- and discover treasure beyond either’s greatest imaginings.
Baen | 9781668073131 

SACRED LIGHT: A Georgia O'Keefe Mystery by Kathryn Lasky (Historical Mystery)
New Mexico, 1937. Painter Georgia O’Keeffe is excited for her trip to the intriguing wilderness of the Bisti Badlands. A common site for archaeological excavations, it’s a historical place with enchanting desertscapes but also perilous natural structures. Her trip is overshadowed by the sad news of her friend and native, Juan Nez, going missing. No one knows where he is, and it’s unlikely he’s gotten lost. He knows these lands like the back of his hand. Has something happened to him? And if so, was it an accident, or has a horrible crime taken place? Trying to make sense of the situation, Georgia seeks solace in her art, but soon she comes face to face with a dangerous reality and an even deadlier disaster.
Severn House | 9781448316564 

STOLEN IN DEATH by J. D. Robb (Mystery/Thriller)
A blow to the head with a block of amethyst has left multibillionaire Nathan Barrister dead --- while nearby, a vault, its door ajar, sits filled with priceless paintings, jewelry and other treasures. Lieutenant Eve Dallas’ husband, Roarke, recognizes at least two stolen pieces among the hoard. The crime scene suggests a burglar caught in the act. But only one item seems to be missing. Then it’s revealed that the vault had actually belonged to the victim’s late father --- and no one in the household knew it was there until a recent remodeling project exposed it. To protect the family name and business, they explain to Eve, they’d been looking for a way to return the ill-gotten gains anonymously and avoid the police. But now the police are all over their elegant house and have a bigger, bloodier mystery to solve.
St. Martin's Press | 9781250414526 

A STUDY IN SECRETS: A Redacted Man Mystery by Jeffrey Siger (Mystery)
Michael A lives a quiet, comfortable life since his retirement from the intelligence services. Practically a recluse, he spends his days imagining the lives of the anonymous people he watches in the park beneath the window of his elegant New York townhouse --- number 221 --- his every need tended to by his housekeeper, Mrs. Baker. For weeks, a girl has sat in the park every morning at dawn. Always alone. Always watchful. And when the sun rises, she vanishes, as if she was never there. But one day her routine changes --- and Michael realizes that she faces terrible danger. He makes an uncharacteristic decision to abandon his solitude and help her. Soon, Michael finds himself plunged into the New York underworld, and he’ll have to use all the tricks of his former trade if he’s to keep not just himself, but his new friend, alive.
Severn House | 9781448317066 

THIS BOOK MADE ME THINK OF YOU by Libby Page (Fiction)
When Tilly Nightingale receives a call telling her there’s a birthday gift from her husband waiting for her at her local bookshop, it couldn’t come as more of a shock. Partly because she can’t remember the last time she read a book for pleasure. But mainly because Joe died five months ago. When she goes to pick up the present, Alfie, the bookshop owner, explains the gift --- 12 carefully chosen books with handwritten letters from Joe, one for each month, to help her turn the page on her first year without him. At first, Tilly can’t imagine sinking into a fictional world. But Joe’s tender words convince her to try, and something remarkable happens. Tilly becomes immersed in the pages, and a new chapter begins to unfold in her own life.
Berkley | 9798217186990 

TREATY by Davis Bunn (Science Fiction/Adventure)
Kirra Barret lives with her clan in a mining community in the Fifth Ward of Florian, a city in a human-occupied zone on planet Treaty. She is determined to have a brighter future --- and her unique connection to the planet’s flying alien beasts could be the key to improving her fortunes. In Florian’s upmarket Second Ward, Eva Fourier is offered the chance to become a secret government agent and go after criminals accumulating wealth and power on Treaty by dubious means. From different ends of Florian’s social spectrum, battle lines are drawn as Kirra and Eva’s lives intertwine in unexpected and high-stakes ways --- ways that threaten the long-standing agreement between humans and aliens on Treaty forever.
Severn House | 9781448319923 

WOLF HOUR written by Jo Nesbø, translated by Robert Ferguson (Mystery/Thriller)
Minneapolis, Minnesota, 2016. When a small-time criminal and gun dealer is shot down in the street, all signs point to Tomas Gomez, a quiet man with a mysterious past --- and deep connections to a notorious gang --- who has seemingly vanished into thin air. Other murders soon follow. Meanwhile, Bob Oz, a down-and-out suspended police officer, becomes fascinated by the case: he is obsessed with the notion of hunting down a serial killer who only he can understand. Minneapolis, Minnesota, 2022. An enigmatic Norwegian man with ties to Minneapolis --- a self-described crime writer --- has traveled to the United States to research the Gomez case, in the hopes of writing a book about it. But as his investigation progresses, the writer’s seemingly neutral position reveals itself to be more complicated than the reader is initially led to believe.
Knopf | 9780593803653 

On Sale the Week of February 2nd in Paperback

February 1st

BLADE by Wendy Walker (Psychological Thriller)
Paperback Original
Ana Robbins was an Olympic star in the making --- until tragedy forced her to leave that world behind. At the age of 16, she gave up her dream and never looked back. Fourteen years later, she’s a successful defense attorney, revered for her work with minors. But when her former coach turns up dead, Ana lands right back where it all began, and abruptly ended: The Palace, a world-renowned skating facility nestled high in the mountains of Colorado. Ana returns to The Palace to defend the young skater accused of the brutal crime. Despite her claims of innocence, all evidence points squarely at Grace Montgomery’s guilt. But Ana’s investigation dredges up childhood memories of her own, triggering the fear that permeates this place where she once lived and trained far from home as an “Orphan.”
Thomas & Mercer | 9781662531910

READ BETWEEN THE LIES by Jesse Q. Sutanto (Psychological Thriller)
Paperback Original
After years of rejection, Fern’s debut novel has sold, and she’s ready to join the supportive online community of fellow debuts. But when she discovers that her high school bully, Haven, has landed a major book deal and will be debuting alongside her, old wounds reopen. As the pandemic forces everyone online, tensions escalate in their writing community. While Haven seems to succeed effortlessly, Fern watches her own career crumble. Yet beneath their polished personas lies a darker truth about their shared past --- one involving a lost friend, Dani, and secrets neither wants revealed. Fern isn’t the same person Haven bullied all those years ago. She’s learned that the best revenge stories aren’t written --- they’re lived. And she’s been plotting this one for years. What begins as an online rivalry escalates into a dangerous obsession.
Mindy's Book Studio | 9781662534638

February 3rd

BLOOD IN THE WATER: The Untold Story of a Family Tragedy by Casey Sherman (True Crime)
When Nathan Carman, a young man with a complicated past, is miraculously rescued from a lifeboat bobbing in the unforgiving North Atlantic, questions swirl about the fate of his mother, who is presumed to have drowned when their fishing boat sank. Nathan is in remarkably good shape for being lost at sea for a week, and his account of what exactly happened out there on the waves raises questions from family members and law enforcement. Nathan's story of a fishing trip gone awry doesn't quite add up, and suspicion mounts. The mysterious murder of Nathan's multi-millionaire grandfather a few years before had made Nathan's mother an extremely wealthy woman. With a seven-million-dollar fortune at stake, did Nathan commit the ultimate betrayal? Or is there more to this tragic tale than meets the eye?
Sourcebooks | 9781728298221

THE CALIFORNIANS by Brian Castleberry (Fiction)
It’s 2024, and Tobey Harlan steals from the wall of his father’s house three paintings by the venerated and controversial artist Di Stiegl. Tobey has just lost everything he owns to a Northern California wildfire, and if he can sell the paintings (albeit in a shady way to a notorious tech bro), he can start life anew in a place no one will ever find him. A hundred years before, German-Jewish immigrant Klaus Aaronsohn inveigles his way into a film studio in Astoria, Queens. He will restyle himself Klaus von Stiegl, a mysterious aristocratic German film director, and end his career directing “Brackett,” a radical, notorious ’60s-era detective show. Weaving between Tobey and Klaus is the story of Diane “Di” Stiegl, Klaus’ granddaughter, raised in Palm Springs, who claws out a career as an artist in gritty 1980s NYC.
Mariner Books | 9780063213340

CLEAVAGE: Men, Women, and the Space Between Us by Jennifer Finney Boylan (Memoir/Gender Studies)
SHE’S NOT THERE was the first bestselling work written by a transgender American. Since its publication 20 years ago, Jennifer Finney Boylan has become the go-to person for insight into the impact of gender on our lives. But CLEAVAGE is more than a deep dive into gender identity; it’s also a look at the difference between coming out as trans in 2000 --- when many people reacted to Boylan’s transition with love --- and the present era of blowback and fear. How does gender affect our sense of self? Our body image? The passage of time? The friends we lose --- and keep? Boylan considers her womanhood, reflects on the boys and men who shaped her, and reconceives of herself as a writer, activist, parent and spouse.
Celadon Books | 9781250382481

CROSS MY HEART by Megan Collins (Psychological Thriller)
A year after she was dumped in her wedding dress, Rosie Lachlan is working at her parents’ bridal salon. The recipient of a life-saving heart transplant, Rosie knows that her health is precious and precarious. She suspects that her heart donor is Daphne Thorne, the wife of local celebrity author Morgan Thorne, who she begins messaging via an anonymous service called DonorConnect. But Rosie has a secret: She’s convinced that now that she has his wife’s heart, she and Morgan are meant to be together. As she and Morgan correspond, the pretense of avoiding personal details soon disappears. But as she digs deeper into Morgan’s previous marriage, she discovers disturbing rumors about the man she’s falling for. Could Morgan have had something to do with his late wife’s death?
Atria Books | 9781668048085

DEATH OF THE AUTHOR by Nnedi Okorafor (Literary Science Fiction)
Disabled, disinclined to marry, and more interested in writing than a lucrative career in medicine or law, Zelu has always felt like the outcast of her large Nigerian family. Then her life is upended when she’s unceremoniously fired from her university job and her novel is rejected by yet another publisher. With her career and dreams crushed in one fell swoop, she decides to write something just for herself. What comes out is nothing like the quiet, literary novels that have so far peppered her unremarkable career. It’s a far-future epic where androids and AI wage war in the grown-over ruins of human civilization. When Zelu finds the courage to share her strange novel, she does not realize she is about to embark on a life-altering journey --- one that will catapult her into literary stardom, but also perhaps obliterate everything her book was meant to be.
William Morrow Paperbacks | 9780063391161

DISAPPOINT ME by Nicola Dinan (Fiction)
Thirty years old with a lifetime of dysphoria and irritating exes rattling around in her head, Max is plagued by a deep dissatisfaction. Shouldn't these be the best years of her life? Why doesn't it feel that way? After taking a spill down the stairs at a New Year’s Eve party, she decides to make some changes. First: a stab at good old-fashioned heteronormativity. Max thinks she’s found the answer in Vincent. While his corporate colleagues, trad friends and Chinese parents never pictured their son dating a trans woman, he cares for Max in a way she’d always dismissed as a foolish fantasy. But he is also carrying baggage of his own. When the fallout of a decades-old entanglement resurfaces, Max must decide what forgiveness really means.
Dial Press Trade Paperback | 9780593977880

THE DOLLHOUSE ACADEMY by Margarita Montimore (Thriller)
For the past 18 years, Ivy Gordon has been the most famous star at the Dollhouse Academy, the elite boarding school and talent incubator that every aspiring performer dreams of attending. But in secret diary entries, she begins to reveal the truth of her life at the Dollhouse: strange medical exams, mysterious supplements, and something unspeakable that has left her terrified and feeling like a prisoner. Ramona Halloway and her best friend, Grace Ludlow, grew up idolizing Ivy. Neither has made much headway in showbiz until a lucky break grants them entry to the Dollhouse. When Ramona begins to receive threatening anonymous messages, it’s easy to dismiss them as a prank from a rival. Her bigger concern is Grace’s skyrocketing success. But as the messages grow more unsettling, so does life at the Dollhouse.
Flatiron Books | 9781250320674

DOUBLE TROUBLE by Joyce Carol Oates, writing as Rosamond Smith (Psychological Thriller)
Celebrating 40 years of pseudonymous suspense from Joyce Carol Oates
Four decades ago, Joyce Carol Oates penned her first novel of psychological suspense under the name “Rosamond Smith.” In the Smith books, Oates explored themes of betrayal and deception, lust and murder, through stories involving twins, doubles and hidden second identities. Hard Case Crime is proud to bring these extraordinary works of crime fiction back into print in definitive double editions, each pairing two complete novels and two never-before-collected Oates short stories, all linked thematically, to weave a sinister web filled with dark reflections. In this volume, a female serial killer seeks refuge in her twin sister’s home in STARR BRIGHT WILL BE WITH YOU SOON, while a male serial killer murders for the woman he craves in SOUL/MATE --- and the echoes continue in the rare short stories “The Murderess” and “An Unsolved Crime.”
Hard Case Crime | 9781835415443

GET OVER IT, APRIL EVANS by Ashley Herring Blake (Romantic Comedy)
Paperback Original
April Evans’ life is in shambles. She’s had to close her tattoo shop in Clover Lake, and she’s subletting her house to cover her mortgage. And her love life is nonexistent ever since her ex-fiancée, Elena, left her for a younger woman three years ago. When she is asked to teach a summer art class at the town’s new resort called Cloverwild, April jumps at the opportunity, especially since the job comes with boarding. She’s sure that this is the silver lining she needs…until she meets her cabinmate: Daphne Love, the woman who stole her ex-fiancée. And even worse, it’s clear Daphne has no idea who April is. Their already-tense relationship gets even shakier when April and Daphne find themselves competing for a rare opportunity to showcase their art in a London museum. But barriers slowly begin to fall, and an inexplicable allure keeps drawing them closer.
Berkley | 9780593816011

HARLEM RHAPSODY by Victoria Christopher Murray (Historical Fiction)
In 1919, high school teacher Jessie Redmon Fauset has been named the literary editor of The Crisis. The first Black woman to hold this position at a preeminent Negro magazine, Jessie is poised to achieve literary greatness. But she holds a secret that jeopardizes it all. W. E. B. Du Bois, the founder of The Crisis, is not only Jessie’s boss, he’s her lover. And neither his wife nor their 14-year age difference can keep the two apart. Amidst rumors of their tumultuous affair, Jessie is determined to prove herself. She attacks the challenge of discovering young writers with fervor. Under her leadership, The Crisis thrives. When her first novel is released to great acclaim, it’s clear that Jessie is at the heart of a renaissance in Black music, theater and the arts. But as she strives to preserve her legacy, she’ll discover the high cost of her unparalleled success.
Berkley | 9780593638507

HEAP EARTH UPON IT by Chloe Michelle Howarth (Historical Fiction)
Paperback Original
In January 1965, the growing town of Ballycrea has four new residents. The O’Leary siblings arrive in their new village under suspicious circumstances. Desperate to make a new start and leave their troubled life behind, the O'Learys offer few, contradicting details about their past. As they slowly settle in to town, the siblings are taken under the wing of Betty and Bill Nevan, a wealthy couple in their 40s who have always wanted children. However, as one O’Leary sister grows close to Betty, lines are crossed and their intense relationship becomes difficult to define. All the while, the O’Learys' buried secrets keep bubbling up, threatening to ruin their new future.
Melville House | 9781685892531

HOW TO KILL A GUY IN TEN DATES by Shailee Thompson
(Romantic Suspense/Comedy)
Paperback Original
When Jamie Prescott and her best friend, Laurie, attend a speed-dating event, Jamie expects to meet a roster of mediocre men. She doesn’t expect one of her dates to have his throat slit at their table during a blackout. The lights come back on, and there are more bodies on the floor. Armed with makeshift weapons and Jamie’s extensive knowledge of what NOT to do in a slasher, the remaining speed daters try to find an exit while the killer adds to their body count. As the night progresses and Jamie comes face-to-mask with the murderer, she begins to suspect they are committing the slayings to woo one of the daters and turn them into a real-life Final Girl. But Jamie has other plans, and as she fights for her life, she can’t help but find herself ensconced in a love triangle with two of the other survivors.
Gallery Books | 9781668206713

IMPOSTOR: An Alexander Gregory Thriller by LJ Ross (Psychological Thriller)
First Publication in the US
Dr. Alexander Gregory, a psychologist recovering from the collapse of a high-profile criminal profiling unit, wants nothing more than a quiet life to finally sit and think things through. But his rare ability to understand the minds of violent offenders makes him hard to ignore --- especially when a small town is shaken by a brutal murder. Reluctantly pulled into the case, Gregory finds himself confronting not only a cunning predator, but the darker corners of his own mind.
Poisoned Pen Press | 9781464273872

JANE AND DAN AT THE END OF THE WORLD by Colleen Oakley (Fiction/Humor)
Jane is a mother of two who feels unneeded by her teenagers, and her writing career has screeched to an unsuccessful halt. Her one published novel sold under 500 copies. And she’s pretty sure that her husband, Dan, is cheating on her. When the couple goes to the renowned upscale restaurant La Fin du Monde to celebrate their 19th anniversary, Jane thinks it’s as good a place as any to tell Dan she wants a divorce. But before they even get to the second course, an underground climate activist group bursts into the dining room. Nearly everything the disorganized and bumbling activists say and do is right out of the pages of Jane’s failed book. Even Dan admits it’s eerily familiar. Which means they’re the only ones who know what’s going to happen next. And they’re the only ones who can stop it.
Berkley | 9780593639146

JUNIE by Erin Crosby Eckstine (Historical Fiction)
Sixteen years old and enslaved since she was born, Junie has spent her life on Bellereine Plantation in Alabama, cooking and cleaning alongside her family, and tending to the white master’s daughter, Violet. Her daydreams are filled with poetry and faraway worlds, while she spends her nights secretly roaming through the forest, consumed with grief over the sudden death of her older sister, Minnie. When wealthy guests arrive from New Orleans, hinting at marriage for Violet and upending Junie’s life, she commits a desperate act --- one that rouses Minnie’s spirit from the grave, tethered to this world unless Junie can free her. She enlists the aid of Caleb, the guests’ coachman, and their friendship soon becomes something more. Yet as long-held truths begin to crumble, she realizes Bellereine is harboring dark and horrifying secrets that no longer can be ignored.
Ballantine Books | 9780593725139

THE KILLING FIELDS OF EAST NEW YORK: The First Subprime Mortgage Scandal, a White-Collar Crime Spree, and the Collapse of an American Neighborhood by Stacy Horn (True Crime)
On a warm summer evening in 1991, 17-year-old Julia Parker was murdered in the Brooklyn neighborhood of East New York. An area known for an exorbitant level of violence and crime, East New York had come to be known as the Killing Fields. In the six months after Julia Parker’s death, 62 more people were murdered in the same area. In the early 1990s, murder rates in the neighborhood climbed to the highest in NYPD history. East New York was dying. But how did this once thriving, diverse, family neighborhood fall into such ruin? The answer can be found two decades earlier. A compulsively readable hybrid of true crime and investigative journalism, THE KILLING FIELDS OF EAST NEW YORK reveals how white-collar crime reduced a prospering neighborhood to abandoned buildings and empty lots.
Gillian Flynn Books | 9781638934011

KILLS WELL WITH OTHERS by Deanna Raybourn (Thriller)
After more than a year of laying low, Billie, Helen, Mary Alice and Natalie are called back into action. When they receive a summons from the head of the elite assassin organization known as the Museum, they are ready to tackle the greatest challenge of their careers. Someone on the inside has compiled a list of important kills committed by Museum agents, connected to a single, shadowy figure, an Eastern European gangster with an iron fist, some serious criminal ambition, and a tendency to kill first and ask questions later. This new nemesis is murdering agents who got in the way of their power-hungry plans, and the aging quartet of killers is next. Together the foursome embark on a wild ride across the globe on the double mission of rooting out the Museum’s mole and hunting down the gangster who seems to know their next move before they make it.
Berkley | 9780593638538

THE LOST LANGUAGE OF OYSTERS: A Professor Dr von Igelfeld Entertainment by Alexander McCall Smith (Fiction/Humor)
Paperback Original
Professor Moritz-Maria von Igelfeld is the author of the highly regarded work of scholarship, Portuguese Irregular Verbs. His eminence in language studies is widely respected, albeit rarely acknowledged by his colleague, Professor Detlev-Amadeus Unterholzer, the writer of a far less important book on the subjunctive. Their rivalry bubbles under the surface, but is quick to come into the open if something unusual disturbs the calm waters of the institute in Regensburg where they both work. One such event is the arrival of two visiting scholars from New Orleans. These ladies, Professor Pom Pom Boisseau and her friend, Professor Alice Martinique, are experts in the Provençal language and avid bikers. When they choose to make a dramatic entrance, Unterholzer is shocked, but von Igelfeld is rather taken with Pom Pom. In fact, he is very taken with her.
Vintage | 9798217008322

A MIND OF HER OWN by Danielle Steel (Historical Fiction)
Alexandra Bouvier is born in Paris in 1900. At age 14, Alex’s comfortable life is upended as war erupts across Europe. Her parents follow their sense of duty to the front, performing triage at a field hospital and confronting the horrors of poison gas and trench warfare. The merciless fighting, coupled with the fast-spreading Spanish flu, wreaks havoc on the continent, as well as on Alex’s loved ones. By the time she is 18, she has suffered unimaginable losses. With her grandfather’s support, she attends the University of Chicago and decides to follow his footsteps into journalism. As a newspaper intern, she meets reporter Oliver Foster, who is covering the gang wars sparked by Prohibition. He too has known devastating loss, and the two are drawn to each other, though both fear any attachment. As it turns out, Alex has good reason to be cautious.
Dell | 9780593498729

THE QUIET LIBRARIAN by Allen Eskens (Mystery/Thriller)
Hana Babic is a quiet, middle-aged librarian in Minnesota who wants nothing more than to be left alone. But when a detective arrives with the news that her best friend has been murdered, Hana knows that something evil has come for her, a dark remnant of the past she and her friend had shared. Thirty years before, Hana was someone else: Nura Divjak, a teenager growing up in the mountains of war-torn Bosnia --- until Serbian soldiers arrived to slaughter her entire family before her eyes. The events of that day thrust Nura into the war, leading her to join a band of militia fighters, where she became not only a fierce warrior but a legend --- the deadly Night Mora. But a shattering final act forced Nura to flee to the United States with a bounty on her head. Now, someone is hunting Hana, and her friend has paid the price.
Mulholland Books | 9780316566322

SAY YOU’LL REMEMBER ME by Abby Jimenez (Romantic Comedy)
There's no such thing as a perfect guy, but Xavier Rush comes disastrously close. A gorgeous veterinarian giving Greek god vibes --- all while cuddling a tiny kitten? Immediate yes. That is, until Xavier opens his mouth and proves that even sculpted gods can say the absolute wrong thing. Of course, there’s nothing Samantha loves more than proving someone like him wrong…unless, of course, he can admit he made a mistake. But after one incredible and seemingly endless date, Samantha is forced to admit the truth --- that her family is in crisis, and any kind of relationship would be impossible. Samantha begs Xavier to forget her. To remember their night together as a perfect moment, as crushing as that may be. Only no amount of distance or time is enough to forget what's between them.
Forever | 9781538759189

THE SIRENS by Emilia Hart (Historical Fiction/Magical Realism)
Lucy awakens from a dream to find her hands around her ex-lover’s throat. Horrified, she flees to her older sister’s house on the Australian coast, hoping she can help explain the strangely vivid nightmare that preceded the attack. But Jess is nowhere to be found. As Lucy awaits her return, the rumors surrounding Jess’ strange small town start to emerge. Numerous men have gone missing at sea, spread over decades. A tiny baby was found hidden in a cave. And sailors tell of hearing women’s voices on the waves. Desperate for answers, Lucy finds and begins to read her sister’s adolescent diary. A breathtaking tale of female resilience and the bonds of sisterhood across time and space, THE SIRENS captures the power of dreams, and the mystery and magic of the sea.
St. Martin’s Griffin | 9781250842732

SOURCE CODE: My Beginnings by Bill Gates (Memoir)
SOURCE CODE is not about Microsoft or the Gates Foundation or the future of technology. It’s the human, personal story of how Bill Gates became who he is today: his childhood, his early passions and pursuits. It’s the story of his principled grandmother and ambitious parents, his first deep friendships and the sudden death of his best friend; of his struggles to fit in and his discovery of a world of coding and computers in the dawn of a new era; of embarking in his early teens on a path that took him from midnight escapades at a nearby computer center to his college dorm room, where he sparked a revolution that would change the world.
Vintage | 9780593687468

THE VANISHING KIND by Alice Henderson (Thriller)
When wildlife biologist Alex Carter is tasked with locating jaguars on a vast desert preserve in New Mexico, she is ecstatic. While jaguars once roamed throughout the Southwest, they are now endangered, and Alex hopes that some of the sleek and elusive creatures have found their way to the protected sanctuary. Meanwhile, an archaeological team is excavating the gravesite of a 16th-century Spanish conquistador on a neighboring piece of land. While learning about their discoveries, Alex encounters a dangerous group of anti-immigrant vigilantes roaming the area, threatening the team and demanding they leave. And when the militants learn of Alex’s mission, they become bent on stopping her. And then there are the strange holes that keep appearing on the preserve. Who is digging them, and what are they looking for?
William Morrow Paperbacks | 9780063223066

THE VERMILION SEA by Megan Chance (Historical Thriller)
Paperback Original
The Great War may be over, but brilliant scientist Billie McKennan continues the fight to be taken seriously. When a deliberate omission wins her a marine biologist position aboard an expedition funded by a wealthy eccentric, she quickly discovers she’s not the only one keeping secrets. The opulent Eurybia sets sail for the Gulf of California with a handful of well-to-do passengers and talented scientists on board. To Billie’s surprise, her ex-husband counts among them. The true mission of the voyage comes into question when a mysterious specimen is captured. And then science unexpectedly gives way to wild rumors and superstition. Soon, a sinister force takes hold of the vessel --- and everyone on it. Billie must reconcile her beliefs with the reality of what she encounters in the vermilion sea.
Lake Union Publishing | 9781662533501

WE WERE NEVER FRIENDS by Kaira Rouda (Domestic Thriller)
Paperback Original
The sorority sisters of Theta Gamma Mu --- Roxy, Amelia, Jamie, Beth and Sunny --- have been summoned to Roxy's luxurious Palm Springs vacation home to celebrate the engagement of her son to Beth's daughter. But the refurbished 1920s estate is eerily reminiscent of the hotel where tragedy struck during Spring Break 25 years ago. Long-simmering tensions and shocking secrets begin bubbling to the surface like bodies --- because while the weekend was supposed to be about celebrating the future, it's not so easy to bury the past.
Poisoned Pen Press | 9781464244995

WE WOULD NEVER by Tova Mirvis (Fiction)
No one appears more surprised than Hailey Gelman when she comes under suspicion for the murder of her soon-to-be ex-husband, Jonah. The months leading up to Jonah’s death have been fraught, including a bitter separation and a messy custody battle over their young daughter, Maya. When Hailey files a motion to relocate to Florida, Jonah retaliates, and the divorce begins to spiral dangerously out of control. Sherry, Hailey’s mother, will stop at almost nothing to keep Jonah from getting what he wants. Nate, Hailey’s impetuous and protective older brother, can’t stand to see his little sister suffer. And Solomon, the patriarch, is keeping a secret that threatens the stability and security Sherry has worked so hard to maintain. Soon, they are forced to reckon with who they are as individuals and as a family, and just how far they will go for each other.
Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster | 9781668061633

WHY WE READ: On Bookworms, Libraries, and Just One More Page Before Lights Out by Shannon Reed (Literary Criticism/Essays)
We read to escape, to learn, to find love, to feel seen. We read to encounter new worlds, to discover new recipes, to find connection across difference, or simply to pass a rainy afternoon. No matter the reason, books have the power to keep us safe, to challenge us, and, perhaps most importantly, to make us more fully human. Shannon Reed, a longtime teacher, lifelong reader and New Yorker contributor, gets it. With one simple goal in mind, she makes the case that we should read for pleasure above all else. In WHY WE READ, Reed shares surprising stories from her life as a reader and the poignant ways in which books have impacted her students.
Hanover Square Press | 9781335453518

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