May 12, 2026

May 12, 2026

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In this newsletter, you will find books releasing the weeks of May 11th and May 18th 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 Women's Fiction Author Spotlight & Contest for Lori Foster’s upcoming book, THE LAKE HOUSE, which is her second Firefly Summer novel, following last year's THE GUEST COTTAGE. In anticipation of its May 26th publication, we are awarding a copy to 25 readers. The deadline for your entries is Friday, May 22nd at noon ET.

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This Week's Bonus News:
Our Women’s Fiction Author Spotlight & Contest for
THE LAKE HOUSE by Lori Foster, Releasing on May 26th
Enter to Win One of 25 Copies

Upcoming Virtual Book and Author Events

On Sale the Week of May 11th in Hardcover

May 12th

2084: A Novel of Future War by Elliot Ackerman and Admiral James Stavridis (Speculative Thriller) 
In their novel 2034, decorated military officers and award-winning authors Elliot Ackerman and Admiral James Stavridis imagined a war between the US and China. In their follow-up, 2054, they envisioned a breakdown in American politics fueled by a radical advance in AI. Now they imagine the consequences of a climate war. By the year 2084, the world is divided into the equatorial countries that bear the brunt of the climate crisis --- led by Nigeria, Brazil and Indonesia --- and wealthier countries like China and the US, beset by their own problems after a series of civil wars. Tensions between the two sets of countries have reached a breaking point, until finally the so-called Reparationist nations of the equator decide that only military force can bring them justice.
Penguin Press | 9780593489895 

AMERICAN PATRIARCH: The Life of George Washington by H. W. Brands (Biography)
From his early military career and role among the Virginia gentry, to his leadership during the American Revolution and reluctant return to public service as the first president of the United States, AMERICAN PATRIARCH brings to life the man who was called on time and again by his peers to lead. It casts George Washington as the icon of American virtue who wrested America free from British control, gave credibility to the Constitution, and crafted the norms that would steady America as a nation for generations to follow.
Doubleday | 9780385551557

AMERICAN RAMBLER: Walking the Trail of Johnny Appleseed by Isaac Fitzgerald (Memoir/History) 
As a child, Isaac Fitzgerald was captivated by Johnny Appleseed, drawn to the legend by family ties, his father’s larger-than-life stories, and a shared restlessness to leave home and discover what lay beyond. In AMERICAN RAMBLER, he sets out on a year-long journey to follow Appleseed’s path, walking (okay, sometimes driving...and, at one point, even floating downstream) from Massachusetts to Indiana. On this journey, Fitzgerald turns a childhood fascination into a profound reckoning of loss and grief, ritual and faith, grimy gas station bathrooms and scenic apple picking. He is followed by a mysterious creature, camps in hostile environments, trespasses more than once, and is warmed by the generosity of strangers at every turn.
Knopf | 9780593537794 

THE ANNIVERSARY by Alex Finlay (Psychological Thriller)
On May 1, 1992, Jules Delaney and Quinn Riley hardly know each other. Jules is high school queen bee in a small Midwestern town when she survives a brutal attack by the elusive May Day Killer --- a predator who strikes every May 1st. Quinn, a boy from the wrong side of the tracks, is arrested the same night after trying to break up a fight and nearly killing someone. By morning, their lives are forever connected. A year later, Jules is tormented by one question: Why was she spared? Quinn is newly released from juvenile detention and returns home to devastating news --- the unsolved murder of his mother. Over the next decade, their lives are revisited on a single day each year: May 1st. As the years pass, secrets surface, lies unravel, and the paths of Jules and Quinn draw closer together.
Minotaur Books | 9781250360755 

COYOTELAND by Vanessa Hua (Fiction)
When Jin Chang moves to the privileged community of El Nido with his wife and daughters, he hopes it finally will be the end of his bad luck. What his family doesn’t know is that he’s bending the rules for one final scheme: to make it big in real estate. Next door, Blair Belle prides herself on her progressive politics. But she can’t help but feel skeptical of the new neighbors, especially when she begins to suspect that Jin’s plans might interfere with the Belles’ own luxury development. Jin’s teenage daughter, Jane, is struggling to navigate El Nido’s cliques. Tasha Washington has always felt isolated as one of the only Black girls at the school. In the wake of a coyote attack, Jane and Tasha bond. Together, they hatch a plot to expose the town’s hypocrisies. The shock waves will rock their own families.
Flatiron Books | 9781250395511

THE DEVIL AND MRS. GOOCH: Household Gramarye, Book 2 by Oliver Darkshire (Fantasy/Humor)
In the storm-drenched city of Verdigris, home to indolent sorcerers and undead hotels, something is dreadfully wrong. Buildings are starting to crumble due to the kidnapping of their hobs, the many-legged house spirits that keep each home in order. In such times, one would ordinarily blame the Devil, but he has been enchanted by a new and enticing evil: the jackbooted villainy of Gwendolyn Gooch, who has taken the hobs for her latest diabolical scheme --- apartments for rent. As the hobs retrofit the gaudy Gooch Towers, the fate of the city lies in the hands of the arboreal Professor Green; his rare, complete set of the Household Gramarye; and its famulus, the prim Mrs. Bobkins.
W. W. Norton & Company | 9781324124467 

THE FORGOTTEN MIDWIFE by Laura Anthony (Historical Fiction)
New Jersey, 2023. Riley Carmichael is getting married. Yet she can’t help but feel the emptiness of her own side of the church, save for her grandmother, Betty, whose late-stage dementia has started overtaking her mind. Full of questions about her heritage, Riley embarks on a trip to Ireland to find that elusive sense of home. Tipperary, Ireland, 1954. Margaret’s older sister suddenly passes away, and it falls to her to fulfill the family’s commitment to the Church: the eldest daughter of the Lannigan family has joined the Sisters of Mercy nuns for generations. When Margaret meets a young and terrified Delia O’Rourke, the sister of her childhood best friend, she must find the strength she needs to protect this young woman and her baby in the face of a system built to ensure they disappear.
Gallery Books | 9781668047415 

THE FOURSOME by Christina Baker Kline (Historical Fiction)
When Eng and Chang Bunker arrive in Wilkes County in 1839, everyone is eager to learn if the salacious rumors about them are true. Within months, the twins have opened a general store, bought land, and begun building a plantation. Now, word has it that they’re looking for wives --- and in a place that thrives on gossip and legacy, their ambitions set the community on edge. Sarah and Adelaide Yates, daughters of a once-prominent local family brought low by scandal, are drawn into their orbit. Bold, beautiful Adelaide sees in the twins’ fame a chance to reclaim her future. Sarah, quiet and observant, isn’t so sure. When the twins’ lives become entangled with theirs, they must navigate loyalty, longing and identity in a world where everything --- including race, class and gender --- is rigidly defined.
Mariner Books | 9780063097995 

THE FOURTH OPTION by Jack Carr and M. P. Woodward (Political Thriller)
Disillusioned by the government and institutions he dedicated his life to serving, former Navy SEAL and CIA ground branch operative Chris Walker is about to end his life when he receives a call that saves it. The wife of a teammate he lost in Afghanistan has now lost her son to the opioid crisis and needs Walker’s help. Thrust into a conspiracy that goes deeper than he ever imagined, Walker must go up against the system and the very Constitution he once swore an oath to support and defend in order to find justice for his friend’s widow. With ambitious FBI agent Jarrett Stanton on his tail, Walker takes the law into his own hands, exposing corruption and issuing a long-forgotten brand of lethal outlaw justice.
Atria/Emily Bestler Books | 9781668072011 

THE GOOD EYE: Stories by Jess Gibson (Fiction/Short Stories)
A psychic harnesses her talent for animal communication to extract a perfect revenge. A stone appears in a woman’s pocket like a charm, only to end up lodged in her partner’s throat. A condescending artist, who considers his girlfriend too conventional, throws a dinner party where he’s served a painful and consequential truth. Jess Gibson brings us 12 probing, sideways tales that wrestle with the limits of perception and possibility. The men and women in her stories confront contradictory forces: the beautiful can turn grotesque, the exalted can fall into disgrace, the genius can be proved an impostor. 
Cardinal | 9781538777749 

IKE AND WINSTON: World War, Cold War, and an Extraordinary Friendship by Jonathan W. Jordan (Biography)
One was the soldier-statesman who would become America’s 34th president. The other was the British icon who refused to surrender in democracy’s darkest hour. Together they launched invasions, toppled tyrants, and shaped the world as the nations they served drifted apart. From world war to the Cold War, from Pearl Harbor to the hydrogen bomb, Winston Churchill and Dwight Eisenhower faced down Hitler, Stalin and Khrushchev and stood together in the uneasy dawn of the nuclear age. Through triumph and loss, they forged a remarkable friendship that weathered the decline of an empire and the rise of a superpower.
Dutton | 9780593473139 

THE LAST MANDARIN by Louise Penny and Mellissa Fung (Political Thriller)
Alice Li, a first-generation Chinese American and former food blogger, has long lived in the shadow of her mother, Vivien Li --- a Tiananmen Square dissident turned world-renowned human rights activist and passionate advocate for a free and democratic China. When security and fire alarms go off simultaneously all around the world, setting off a panic, the signal is traced back to China. As world leaders scramble to respond, Vivien and Alice are called to the White House in hopes that Madame Li can interpret the Chinese intentions. But why involve Alice? If China isn’t behind the attack, Vivien warns, someone even more dangerous is pulling the strings. Mother and daughter must join together to overcome their estrangement if they have any hope of preventing global catastrophe.
Minotaur Books | 9781250412522 

THE LOST BOOK OF LANCELOT by John Glynn (Historical Fantasy) 
Hidden away on the Isle of Women, a nameless orphan grows up among a powerful sisterhood, but always at a distance. He hears whispers of a prophecy that may shed light on his destiny --- and his true identity: Lancelot. Determined to master the skills of knighthood, he begins training in tandem with the handsome Galehaut. But no matter how tightly they cling to one another, each has a role to play in the wizard Merlin's grand prophecies. When Lancelot is forced to follow Merlin to Camelot, he fights to protect his heart while seeking the fabled grail alongside King Arthur and his knights of the Round Table. But when Roman legionaries encroach on their kingdom, their quest takes on new urgency, as does Lancelot's explosive secret --- the truth of what he left behind on the Isle of Women.
Grand Central Publishing | 9781538775233 

MAKE ME BETTER by Sarah Gailey (Supernatural Thriller/Horror)
Celia is so tired of being alone. All she wants is to have a family --- to belong to someone. That's why she's going to Kindred Cove for the annual Salt Festival held by the secluded community that lives there. They promise that healing is possible. They promise that transformation is inevitable. There is no grief at Kindred Cove, because there is no suffering. Nothing is ever lost. Celia knows that, at that mysterious island surrounded by that impossible, ever-growing reef, she will find herself. She’s ready to be healed. She’s ready to be transformed. She's ready to believe.
Tor Books | 9781250851758 

THE MAY HOUSE by Jillian Cantor (Fiction)
No matter what’s going on in the May sisters’ lives, the one thing they can rely on is seeing each other for one week in May at their grandmother’s beachside home in gorgeous Coronado. As adults, Julia, Emily and Nora aren’t particularly close, but their promise to return each year keeps them anchored together. Until one May when Julia, the oldest and most dependable sister, doesn’t show. Suddenly, Nora and Emily start to question how much they truly know about their sister’s life. Told in alternating points of view, spanning from their time together with Grandma Vera as kids into their adult lives, THE MAY HOUSE explores how a decades-long family secret has unknowingly shaped each sister and, ultimately, how it brings them closer together.
Atria Books | 9781668091159 

MIGRANT HEART: Essays About Things I Can't Forget by Reyna Grande
(Memoir/Essays)
Reyna Grande interrogates how living between two nations, two languages and two identities has shaped the woman, mother and writer she has become. Moving from the legacy of violence in her hometown of Iguala, Mexico, to a bittersweet family vacation in Europe spent reconciling her own impoverished past with her children’s world of abundance, she uncovers startling truths about the nature of survival. Whether being racially profiled in the Arizona borderlands or finding unexpected wisdom from the slugs in her garden, Grande unflinchingly asks: How do we bridge the gap between who we were and who we have become? How do we turn pain into power? When memory threatens to define us, how can we use story to heal while still honoring our boundaries?
Atria/Primero Sueno Press | 9781668055274 

MURDER, SHE WROTE: MURDER MOST TRIVIAL by Jessica Fletcher and Barbara Early (Mystery) 
Jessica Fletcher and friends Seth Hazlitt and Maureen and Mort Metzger team up for pub trivia and crush the competition. But then they are stunned to learn that the prize is a chance to appear in a five-day trivia tournament filming in LA. No one expects life-or-death stakes! But on day one of the tournament, a crew member is murdered. Who would benefit from derailing the show? Jessica has to come up with the ultimate answer. In a metafictional twist, the investigation takes Jessica and the gang to the filming locations of their favorite mystery shows, where they discuss how Columbo, Monk or Jim Rockford might go about solving the case.
Berkley | 9780593952900 

NEW SKIN by Sarah Wang (Fiction)
At 26, Linli Feng is still trying to escape her mother Fanny’s orbit. But after three years of estrangement, she is dragged back by Fanny’s latest medical catastrophe and forced to return home. For decades, Fanny has been addicted to plastic surgery. Now her disfigured face is in dangerous revolt, infected and collapsing yet again from black-market injectables. But Fanny has another secret in store. She has won a spot on “America’s Beauty Extreme,” a reality television competition in which botched plastic surgery addicts compete for reconstructive surgery as riveted audiences tune in. When Linli attempts to rescue Fanny from the sinister subculture that already has claimed her mother’s face, she must confront the corrosive reality of the American Dream that is at the fraught heart of their relationship. 
Little, Brown and Company | 9780316594523 

RED VERDICT by James Comey (Legal Thriller)
Nora Carleton is hitting her stride as Deputy US Attorney for the Southern District of New York when a high-stakes counterintelligence case pulls her into a deadly game with global implications. A Russian-style hit on an executive at an American drone manufacturer sends a chilling message. But what exactly is it? Was the victim a Russian mole or just a convenient target? Teaming up with her longtime friend, Special Agent Benny Dugan, Nora launches a criminal investigation that takes them from New York to Las Vegas with the hopes of prosecuting a traitor who has put their country at risk. But as they dig deeper into the tangled web of Russian intelligence and those who profit from its reach, Nora finds herself in the crosshairs of powerful forces determined to keep their secrets buried.
The Mysterious Press | 9781613167830 

ROBERT B. PARKER'S BOOKED: A Sunny Randall Novel by Alison Gaylin (Mystery)
World-famous author Melanie Joan Hall asks for Sunny Randall's help in tracking down Book Babe, the screen name of an enormously popular book reviewer, who has trolled her with a deeply insulting one-star review. This usually wouldn’t matter except that Book Babe has thousands of followers, and her unwarranted blast has Melanie's publisher threatening to pull all her books. But Sunny's investigation reveals that the reviewer and Melanie have a rich history --- in fact, she may even have good reason to hate the torn-up author. And when Book Babe suddenly turns up dead, casting Melanie as a possible suspect, Sunny finds herself in a complicated web that, if she can't untangle fast enough, just might put a target on her back.
G.P. Putnam's Sons | 9780593854402 

SEEK THE TRAITOR'S SON by Veronica Roth (Dystopian Fantasy/Romance)
Elegy Ahn did not ask for destiny to find her. She is happy with her life as a soldier, defending her small country from the Talusar, a powerful nation who worships a deadly Fever. A fever that blesses half of its victims with mysterious gifts. But then she’s summoned to hear a prophecy --- her, and the most ruthless of Talusar generals, Rava Vidar. Brought face to face, they learn that one of them will lead their people to victory over the other…but they don’t know which. And at the center of both of their fates: a man. A man with whom, Elegy is told, she will fall in love. In just one day, Elegy’s old life --- her job, her purpose and her future --- is over. She and Rava are destined to collide, with the fate of their nations hanging in the balance. And when they do, only one will be left standing.
Tor Books | 9781250347909 

A SIEGE OF OWLS by Uchenna Awoke (Fiction/Magical Realism) 
In a drought-stricken Igbo village, young Ekwe grows up haunted by owls, myths, and the boundaries of a world too small to contain his restless spirit. After touching a forbidden leaf that his father warns will trap him in astral planes, he is swept into a journey that will carry him across Nigeria and into the heart of a nation’s unraveling. Taken in by Danjuma, a gentle Fulani cowherd with a sprawling family and an instinct for danger, Ekwe enters a world of cattle herding, migration and precarious survival. As insurgents tear through northern towns and tribal wars erupt in the Middle Belt, Danjuma leads his family on an epic pastoral flight southward. But violence follows them like a shadow, and the owls --- symbols of myth, menace and prophecy --- perch over every new beginning. 
Catapult | 9781646223336 

SPINNING AT THE EDGES by Elizabeth Poliner (Fiction)
For much of her adult life, Ruth Pearl has lived in the small New England town of Wells, Connecticut, on the shore of Lake Topaqua. Decades back, when she was 14, she and her parents fled German-occupied Amsterdam after the murder of her beloved older sister, Sophia. In the wake of such loss, Ruth has long taken comfort in the natural beauty of her lake view. But in the winter of 2000, her neighbor builds an addition to his home that blocks her view. One day, Ruth heads out for a cathartic skate on the lake only to spot a boy in the distance falling through the ice. Also witnessing this event is Judge Arthur Cantrell. Together, Ruth and Arthur save Ian Lima, a despairing 16-year-old. Soon enough, this turn of events begins to impact Ruth’s daughter, Ian’s mother, and even Arthur’s love interest.
Harper | 9780063434530 

THE TAPESTRY OF FATE: An Amina al-Sirafi Adventure, Book Two by Shannon Chakraborty (Historical Fantasy/Adventure)
Tasked with hunting down arcane artifacts for the council of immortal peris, Amina al-Sirafi can savor the occasional rollicking adventure on the high seas with her cherished criminal companions while still returning home to raise her beloved daughter, Marjana. But when Raksh, the spirit of discord with whom she is reluctantly wed, provokes the council’s wrath, Amina is charged with a seemingly impossible quest: steal a spindle capable of rewriting fate from a mysterious sorceress on an island no one can escape. Forced to leave Marjana, Amina finds her mission almost immediately thrown into peril. But deadly storms, an erratic poison mistress and old enemies are the least of her worries. For the peris’ story is unraveling, hinting at a far deadlier game whose rules Amina must swiftly puzzle out.
Harper Voyager | 9780062963543 

VENGEANCE: The Last Stands of Custer, Crazy Horse, and Sitting Bull by Tom Clavin (History)
On June 25–27, 1876, the Battle of the Little Bighorn, commonly referred to as Custer's Last Stand, was fought between combined forces of the Lakota Sioux, Northern Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes, and the 7th Cavalry Regiment of the United States Army. Along the Little Bighorn River in Montana Territory, the battle resulted in the devastating defeat of U.S. forces and was the most significant action of the Great Sioux War of 1876. This dramatic look at the Little Bighorn battle includes not only the Native American point of view --- with two dynamic Native figures, Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse, on prominent display --- but also the impact it had on the Plains Indians.
St. Martin's Press | 9781250374509 

WE DANCE UPON DEMONS by Vaishnavi Patel (Urban Fantasy)
As a reproductive health care worker in Chicago, Nisha is barely staying afloat in the ocean of abortion bans, screaming protestors, and her own all-consuming depression. When she escapes to the Indian art exhibit at her favorite museum for a brief respite, Nisha suddenly finds herself bleeding, disoriented and collapsed on the ground. The last thing she remembers is the statue that beckoned her to touch it. In the days that follow, Nisha feels a strange power coursing within her, one that attracts a host of dangerous and enigmatic characters who covet it for themselves. Facing threats both otherworldly and distinctly human, Nisha must navigate uncertain alliances to piece together the centuries-old mystery of her odd and terrifying abilities.
S&S/Saga Press | 9781668068595 

On Sale the Week of May 11th in Paperback

May 12th

ALL HAIL CHAOS by Sarah Rees Brennan (Fantasy/Romance)
Paperback Original
Rae is a fantasy reader who’s been transported to her favorite fictional world of swords and sorcery, castles and monsters. Playing the villainess, she thought she could change the narrative, but this version of the plot is far more deadly than the one she knew. Her friends are on the run: the Cobra shelters in an eerie manor haunted by dark secrets, while Emer and Lia stoke a revolution in the gutters. Undead armies roam the kingdom, raiders camp at the city gates, and the all-powerful Emperor --- Rae’s favorite character ever, now possibly the greatest monster in the land --- wants her to be his evil queen.
Orbit | 9780316568746

ANIMA RISING by Christopher Moore (Historical Fantasy/Humor)
Vienna, 1911. Gustav Klimt, the most famous painter in the Austrian Empire, spots a woman’s nude body in the Danube canal. He knows he should summon a policeman, but he can’t resist stopping to make a sketch first. And as he draws, the woman coughs. She’s alive! Back at his studio, Klimt and his model-turned-muse, Wally, tend to the formerly drowned girl. She is nearly feral and doesn’t remember who she is. Klimt names her Judith, after one of his most famous paintings, and resolves to help her find her memory. With a little help from Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung, Judith recalls being stranded in the arctic 100 years ago, locked in a crate by a man named Victor Frankenstein, and visiting the Underworld. So how did she get here? And why are so many people chasing her?
William Morrow Paperbacks | 9780062434166

BEACH READS AND DEADLY DEEDS by Allison Brennan (Mystery)
Between her high-demand job and taking care of her grandmother and her cats, Mia Crawford has little time for anything else. What time she does have, she pours into reading. Now, forced into taking a long-overdue vacation, she finds herself on a luxurious private island where she just might have a chance to reinvent herself --- for a little while, anyway. She can explore the island. Flirt shamelessly with a cute bartender. Have a vacation fling. Live like a heroine in one of her favorite novels. Or she can curl up with a good book on the beach. It turns out that reinventing yourself is easier planned than done. But when gossipy notes written in the margins of an old book turn out to be clues to the disappearance of another guest, Mia finds herself diving headfirst into a dangerous adventure.
Hanover Square Press | 9780778305910

THE CARDINAL: A Novel of Love and Power by Alison Weir (Historical Fiction)
Cardinal Thomas Wolsey’s rise from humble beginnings coincided with young Henry VIII’s ascension to the throne in 1509, and they grew to be cherished friends. By 1515, Wolsey --- now a cardinal --- had become the controlling figure in all matters of church and state. Wolsey operated on an international stage and worked hard to broker universal peace. All was going dazzlingly well until Henry fell in love with Anne Boleyn and sought to end his marriage to his first wife, Katherine of Aragon. Swept up in the maelstrom of “the Divorce,” Wolsey, who successfully had given his master everything he wanted, found himself in an impossible situation. As he drew the ire of the future queen, the cardinal found his privileged life and his relationship with Henry crumbling around him.
Ballantine Books | 9780593974728

THE CATCH by Yrsa Daley-Ward (Fiction)
Twin sisters Clara and Dempsey have always struggled to relate, their familial bond severed after their mother vanished into the Thames. As infants they were adopted into different families. In adulthood, they are content to be all but estranged, until Clara sees a woman who looks exactly like their mother on the streets of London. The catch: this version of Serene, aged not a day, has enjoyed a childless life --- the very life, it seems, she might have had if the girls had never been born. As with most things, Clara and Dempsey cannot see eye to eye on the confounding appearance of this woman. Clashing over this stranger who burrows deeper and deeper into their lives, the sisters hurtle toward an altercation that threatens their very existence, forcing them to finally confront their pasts --- together.
Liveright | 9781324098485

CHANGEOVER: A Young Rivalry and a New Era of Men's Tennis by Giri Nathan (Sports)
For more than two decades, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer dominated men’s tennis so thoroughly that it became difficult to imagine how the game would keep its shine once they retired. Then came 2024 --- the first year since 2002 that none of them won a Grand Slam tournament --- and a technicolor future was revealed. The major titles were divided between a pair of prodigies in their early 20s: the effervescent showman Carlos Alcaraz and the relentlessly cool Jannik Sinner. Though other young contenders jostled for the spotlight, and Djokovic tried to hold his ground, the transcendentally gifted Alcaraz and Sinner just kept installing their new regime.
Gallery Books | 9781668076255

CLASS CLOWN: The Memoirs of a Professional Wiseass: How I Went 77 Years Without Growing Up by Dave Barry (Memoir/Humor)
How does the son of a Presbyterian minister wind up winning a Pulitzer Prize for writing a wildly inaccurate newspaper column read by millions of people? Dave Barry takes us on a hilarious ride, starting with a childhood largely spent throwing rocks for entertainment --- there was no internet --- and preparing for nuclear war by hiding under a classroom desk. After literally getting elected class clown in high school, he went to college, where, as an English major, he read snippets of great literature when he was not busy playing in a rock band (it was the ’60s). CLASS CLOWN isn’t just a memoir; it’s a vibrant celebration of a life rich with humor, absurdity, joy and sadness.
Simon & Schuster | 9781668021798

THE CUPID DILEMMA by April Asher (Paranormal Romantic Comedy)
Paperback Original
A lover of love and a champion for happily ever after. Those are two of many things people expect from Aphrodite’s daughter. To Adalyn Whitlock, “love” pays the bills. But business is dropping at Happily Ever Forever, with her latest wedding planning catastrophe ending in a negative social media storm. Phoenix "Nix" Cross --- songwriter and drummer for the hot new band The Stone Talons --- is no saint, but he's far from the womanizer the band’s image rep bestowed on him. With the record label pressuring him to deliver their next hit, Nix’s writer’s block couldn’t have come at a worse time. But when he opens his door to his irate new next-door neighbor, Nix feels the brief flash of inspiration for the first time in ages. And it just so happens that his new Muse is none other than his little sister’s new wedding planner.
St. Martin's Griffin | 9781250357885

DARK AGENT by Neal Asher (Science Fiction/Space Opera)
Paperback Original
Captain Blite and Agent Cormac thought they had defeated the malevolent AI Straeger. But Straeger’s mission to plunge the galaxy into a devastating war is far from over. With a twisted p-Prador army bred from the Spatterjay virus, Straeger sets his plans in motion. Meanwhile, in the war-struck world of Yossander’s Hold, Blite and Cormac are trapped in a maelstrom of betrayal and violence. They must fight their way through the chaos as they seek to repair Blite’s damaged ship. But their escape requires resources from the Bracken, and aboard that ship, a terrifying transformation is underway. Recognizing the threat posed by the p-Prador, the Prador Kingdom and the human Polity’s ruling AI form an uneasy alliance. But with Straeger’s plans unfolding and reality itself under threat, the galaxy is poised on the brink of destruction.
Pyr | 9781645060901

THE FIRST GENTLEMAN by Bill Clinton and James Patterson (Political Thriller)
The President of the United States is up for reelection. Her husband is on trial for murder. Is the First Gentleman a killer? A pair of brilliant investigative journalists set out to answer that burning question about the NFL star-turned-political spouse. THE FIRST GENTLEMAN has all the twists and turns, and the authenticity, one expects from the #1 bestselling authors of THE PRESIDENT IS MISSING and THE PRESIDENT’S DAUGHTER.
Little, Brown and Company | 9781538743133

HUNGER written by Choi Jin-young, translated by Soje (Psychological Thriller/Horror)
Paperback Original
On an ordinary afternoon, a woman sees her partner murdered in the street. Time freezes. She lifts his body from the pavement, cradles him home, disinfects each inch of skin --- and sits down to begin. As he witnesses his own funeral from beyond, their two voices --- living and dead --- lament a lifetime of bone-grinding labor in a society that devours everyone whole. But the woman is no longer willing to bow before law, God or money. In an act of love and rebellion, she transforms his body into her own, entombing him within her flesh so that he may live again.
Europa Editions | 9798889661849

I WILL BLOSSOM ANYWAY by Disha Bose (Fiction)
The third of four children born to a middle-class Calcutta family, quiet Durga is surprisingly the first to leave the nest of her loving, overbearing family. But when she arrives in Ireland to work at a tech company, she finds that for the first time ever she is free --- to have fun, to stay out, to sample everything that life has to offer. Suddenly, Durga can be whoever she wants to be. And she wants it all. But freedom comes at a price. Durga falls in love with handsome, charismatic Jacob and grows close with his sister, Joy. But when Jacob breaks up with Durga, she’s unmoored. Will she stay in Ireland with her newfound identity and livelihood, or will she return to India, where she is comfortable? Perhaps neither option is enough.
Ballantine Books | 9780593875346

THE LOVE HATERS by Katherine Center (Romantic Comedy)
Katie Vaughn has two choices: wait to get laid off from her job as a video producer, or, at her coworker Cole’s request, take a career-making gig profiling Tom “Hutch” Hutcheson, a Coast Guard rescue swimmer in Key West. The catch? Katie is not exactly qualified. She can’t swim --- but pretends that she can. Plus, Cole and Hutch are brothers. And they don’t get along. As Katie gets entangled with Hutch (the most scientifically good-looking man she has ever seen…but maybe a bit of a love hater), along with his colorful aunt Rue and his rescue Great Dane, she gets trapped in a lie. Or two. Swim lessons, helicopter flights, conga lines, drinking contests, hurricanes and stolen kisses ensue --- along with chances to tell the truth, face old fears, and be truly brave at last.
St. Martin’s Griffin | 9781250436917

THE LOVES OF MY LIFE: A Sex Memoir by Edmund White (Memoir)
In his final memoir, 85-year-old Edmund White recounted the 70-plus years of sexual escapades that inspired his many masterpieces. Through tales of transactional sex, mutual admiration, open relationships, domination, submission, love and loss, he painted an indelible portrait of queer history in America and abroad in a way only someone who has lived through it can.
Bloomsbury Publishing | 9781639739318

MURDER LIKE CLOCKWORK by Nicola Whyte (Mystery)
Paperback Original
Every Thursday at midday, Audrey Brooks cleans the Petrov house. Mr. Petrov is never home, but that doesn't affect the care with which she mops, polishes and carefully winds each of the dozens of beautiful clocks that decorate the tall, elegant, empty London mansion. Until the morning she finds a corpse in the back bedroom and flees the house in panic. Fifteen minutes later, the police arrive…and find nothing. With no victim, the police are convinced there was no murder, but Audrey knows better. A man has been killed, and if they won't do anything about it, she --- and her annoying friend, Lewis --- will. Whodunit is one thing, but this detective duo also must wrestle with when --- and where on earth is the body? 
Union Square & Co. | 9781454958437

ONE YELLOW EYE by Leigh Radford (Supernatural Thriller/Horror)
British scientist Kesta Shelley has spent her life looking down the barrel of a microscope rather than cultivating personal relationships. But that changed when she met Tim. So when he was one of the last people in London to be infected with a perplexing virus that left the city ravaged, Kesta went into triage mode. Though the government has rounded up and disposed of all the infected, Kesta is able to keep her husband (un)alive --- and hidden --- with resources from the hospital where she works. As she races against the clock, her colleagues start noticing changes in her behavior and appearance. There are whispers of a top-secret lab working on a cure, and Kesta clings to the possibility of being recruited like a lifeline. But can she save her husband before he is discovered? Or worse, will they trigger another outbreak?
Gallery Books | 9781668081228

ORDINARY LOVE by Marie Rutkoski (Romance)
By all appearances, Emily has a perfect life: a townhouse on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, two healthy children, and a husband who showers her with attention. But the truth is more complicated: Emily’s marriage is in trouble, her relationship with her parents is fraught, and she is still nursing a heartbreak from long ago. When Emily runs into her high school girlfriend at a cocktail party, that heartbreak comes roaring back. But Gen Hall is no longer the lanky, hungry kid with holes in her shoes who Emily loved in her youth. Instead, she is a famous Olympic athlete with sponsorship deals and a string of high-profile ex-girlfriends. Emily and Gen circle one another cautiously, drawn together by a magnetic attraction and scarred by their shared history.
Vintage | 9780593689134

SLEEP by Honor Jones (Fiction)
The surface of Margaret’s childhood is one of sunlit swimming pools and Saturday morning pancakes until, late one summer, she wakes to a new kind of peril, and the simple pleasures of girlhood slip away. Twenty-five years later, Margaret is newly divorced, discovering the pleasures of a new lover, and navigating her life as a co-parent when she brings her daughters back to the house where she was raised. As the past encroaches on the present, Margaret reckons with questions about how much of our lives are our own and what it takes to keep a child safe.
Riverhead Books | 9780593852002

SO HAPPY TOGETHER by Olivia Worley (Psychological Thriller)
For 24-year-old Jane, finding love in New York City is even harder than making it as a playwright. So when Jane meets Colin, she can’t believe her luck: they’re perfect for each other. Even when Colin breaks off their relationship after six dates, Jane knows this is just a stumbling block. She’ll get him back. She knows she will. That is, until Colin starts dating Zoe --- perfect, luminous Zoe. Even worse, she’s actually kind of nice. But Zoe doesn’t have what it takes to love Colin. All Jane has to do is prove it, and they’ll be so happy together. But when Jane sneaks into Colin’s apartment, she makes a shocking discovery --- one that will ensnare them all in a dark web of lies, secrets and murder.
Minotaur Books | 9781250372321

SPEAK TO ME OF HOME by Jeanine Cummins (Fiction)
On her wedding day in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in 1968, Rafaela Acuña y Daubón has mild misgivings, but she marries Peter Brennan Jr. anyway in a blaze of romantic optimism. She has no way of knowing how dramatically her life will change when she uproots her young family to start over in the American Midwest, unleashing a fleet of disappointments. In the 1980s, against the backdrop of her mother’s isolation in St. Louis, Missouri, Rafaela’s daughter, Ruth, wants only to belong. Eager to fit in, Ruth lets go of her language, habits and childhood memories of Puerto Rico. It’s not until decades later when Ruth’s own daughter, Daisy, returns to San Juan that her mother and grandmother begin to truly reflect on the choices that have come to define their lives.
Holt Paperbacks | 9781250759382

TERROR AT THE GATES by Scarlett St. Clair (Fantasy/Romance)
Estranged from her powerful family, Lilith Leviathan finds refuge in Nineveh, a district in the city of Eden devoted to sin. There, she uses her magic to steal for a living, attracting the attention of the five governing families as well as the church, which expects women to remain pious and silent. When Lilith comes into possession of a beautiful blade, she thinks all her worries are over…until her usual buyer dies while inspecting it. Frantic, Lilith turns to the only man who can help her: Zahariev, head of the Zareth family and ruler of Nineveh. His currency is information, and his power is extortion, though he's always had a soft spot for Lilith. But when the dagger appears, he isn't sure he can protect her from what's to come. Together, they embark on a mission to discover the true power running their world.
Bloom Books ‎| 9781464239663

THESE SUMMER STORMS by Sarah MacLean (Fiction)
Alice Storm hasn't been welcome at her family's magnificent private island off the Rhode Island coast in five years --- not since she was cast out and built her life beyond the Storm name, influence and untold billions. But the shocking death of her larger-than-life father changes everything. Alice plans to keep her head down, pay her final respects (such as they are), and leave the minute the funeral is over. Unfortunately, her father had other plans. The eccentric, manipulative patriarch left his family a final challenge --- an inheritance game designed to upend their world. The rules are clear: spend one week on the island, complete their assigned tasks, and receive the inheritance. But a whole week on Storm Island is no easy task for Alice. It will be a miracle if she manages to escape unscathed.
Ballantine Books | 9780593972274

TWELVE POST-WAR TALES by Graham Swift (Historical Fiction/Short Stories)
Here are the soldiers and doctors and veterans, wives and lovers and children, who have been affected in ways both subtle and profound by the cataclysms of our times. In the aftermath of World War II, a young Jewish private, stationed in Germany, seeks the truth about lost family members. In the 1960s, a father focuses on his daughter’s wedding even as the Cuban Missile Crisis approaches the brink of global disaster. On September 11th, a maid working for U.S. Embassy staff in London wonders if her birth on the day of the Kennedy assassination determined the course of her life. And at the height of the pandemic lockdown, a respiratory disease specialist comes out of retirement and is faced with a formative childhood memory.
Vintage | 9780593689257

THE WHITE CROW: A Philomena McCarthy Novel by Michael Robotham (Psychological Thriller)
Philomena McCarthy has defied the odds to become a young officer with the Metropolitan Police despite her father and her uncles being notorious London gangsters. On patrol one night, Philomena finds a barefoot child, covered in blood, who says she can’t wake her mother. Meanwhile, three miles away, a London jeweler has a bomb strapped to his chest in his ransacked store, and millions are missing. These two events collide and threaten Philomena’s career, her new marriage, and her life. In too deep, and falling further, she must decide who she can trust --- her family or her colleagues --- and on what side of the thin blue line she wants to live.
Scribner | 9781668031032

WITH A VENGEANCE by Riley Sager (Historical/Psychological Thriller)
In 1954, Anna Matheson boards a luxury overnight train bound for Chicago that she’s commissioned, along with a list of names and a heart hardened by loss. Twelve years earlier, during the height of World War II, six people shattered her family’s life. Now, under a false guise, Anna has orchestrated a chilling reunion --- trapping each of them aboard. Her plan is precise: confront the ghosts of her past, unearth long-buried truths, and ensure justice is waiting at journey’s end. But when one of the passengers is found murdered before dawn, it becomes clear that Anna isn't the only one harboring secrets --- or seeking revenge. As the train hurtles into the icy night, Anna must navigate layers of deception, reckon with the cost of vengeance, and come to protect the very people she came to condemn.
Dutton | 9780593472422

YOU CAN TELL ME by Melinda Leigh (Mystery/Thriller)
Paperback Original
On the three-year anniversary of true crime writer Olivia Cruz’s horrific kidnapping, she’s scheduled to walk her podcaster friend, Zoe March, through the crime scene, but Zoe fails to show. Zoe’s husband, who claims she never came home the night before, has reported her missing. But marital conflicts make the police suspect she has left him. Olivia thinks otherwise. Retracing her friend’s last steps, she finds Zoe’s phone and a text with one chilling word: Run. It soon becomes apparent that Zoe has been keeping secrets, and with her true crime podcast, there’s no telling what she has unearthed. To find her, Olivia must dig into her friend’s past. Did Zoe vanish to escape a killer, and is Olivia walking into a deadly trap?
Montlake | 9781662517006

On Sale the Week of May 18th in Hardcover

May 19th

THE BURNING SIDE by Sarah Damoff (Fiction) 
When April and Leo’s house burns in the middle of the night, they escape with their two young children. They retreat to April’s childhood home in Dallas, where her spirited parents and siblings provide both comfort and complication. As the family reckons with the aftermath, the fire exposes the cracks already forming in April and Leo’s marriage. The novel unfolds in alternating perspectives: from April, who feels the crushing weight of motherhood, marriage and self-blame; from Leo, a high school history teacher shaped by a lonely, fractured childhood; from Deb, April’s generous and no-nonsense mother who has to contend with her husband’s recent Alzheimer’s diagnosis; and from flashbacks that trace April and Leo’s relationship from its earliest days of connection to the devastating decisions that led them here.
Simon & Schuster | 9781668085011

DANGEROUS, DIRTY, VIOLENT, AND YOUNG: A Fugitive Family in the Revolutionary Underground by Zayd Ayers Dohrn (Memoir)
Zayd Ayers Dohrn was born underground. His parents were fugitives after a decade fighting the US government; his mother was on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list. All his life, Dohrn’s parents said his birth marked a clean break with violent revolutionary struggle, but in this explosive memoir, he discovers that story wasn’t entirely true. This masterpiece of personal and social history brings us inside an infamous family and their lives underground. Drawing on exclusive interviews, declassified FBI files, and long-hidden letters, photos and diaries, Dohrn tells a new story of radical resistance, including revelations about the Weathermen’s bombing campaign, their secret alliance with the Black Liberation Army, and the dramatic prison break of Assata Shakur.
W. W. Norton & Company | 9781324089315 

THE DORIANS by Nick Cutter (Science Fiction/Horror)
On a remote island in the Canadian wilderness, five elderly volunteers from different walks of life are given a tantalizing offer: to stall their biological clocks or even reverse them, restoring their lost youth. The chance to put death on pause --- forever, perhaps. The remarkable secret lies in the high-tech harnessing of an ancient and extraordinary biological agent…one with no conscience yet possessed with a single-minded purpose that has helped it persist for eons: the will to survive. The dark heart of unbridled human ambition finds its apex in an unholy experiment that now tests the limits of both creator and subject, eclipsing all bounds of morality and sanity.
Gallery Books | 9781668079560 

GLYPH by Ali Smith (Metaphysical Fiction)
It all starts when Petra and her little sister, Patch, hear a horrifying story from the past and find themselves making up a ghost. Is it imaginary? Is it real? Then it all starts again 30 years later when Petra, now estranged from Patch, finds a phantom horse kicking the furniture to pieces in her bedroom. What to do? She phones her sister. In a chiarascuro dance through our increasingly antagonistic era, GLYPH asks if we’re attending to the history that’s made us and to the history we’re making.
Pantheon | 9780593701584 

THE GULF OF LIONS by Caitlin Shetterly (Fiction)
Reconciling with her husband after a betrayal and recovering from a yearlong battle with breast cancer, Alice longs for an escape from the trials of everyday life. When the opportunity arises for a once-in-a-lifetime camping trip across France, she packs up her daughters. Alice, teenage Sophie and young Iris begin their odyssey in the French Alps. For the first time since her diagnosis, Alice starts to feel alive, less afraid of dying, and less angry about her husband's affair. But as the family continues south, they start to unravel the yarn that binds them together. By the time they head to the charred Pyrenees, and then back across France to stay in a castle that sits on the confluence of two rivers, Alice worries that the trip might have been a disastrous and reckless mistake.
Harper | 9780063421073 

HURRICANE ROOM: A Double O Novel by Kim Sherwood (Thriller/Adventure)
James Bond is alive. But after mental and physical torture at the hands of Colonel Mora, the diabolical head of private military company Rattenfänger, 007 is not the same man he once was. Johanna Harwood, 003, has made it her mission to convince him to trust her again, because MI6 needs their deadliest weapon now more than ever. Bond may be back, but the Double O division is barely holding on. Conrad Harthrop-Vane, 000, has turned traitor. He has been systematically taking out his fellow agents right under the noses of those in power, and now he has abducted Moneypenny. To make matters worse, he may have had help from inside the organization. Joseph Dryden, 004, is left to hold down the fort in Moneypenny’s absence, but enemies are closing in on all sides. The final showdown is about to begin.
William Morrow | 9780063236615 

INFERNO by Conn Iggulden (Historical Thriller)
AD 60. Rome stands at the height of its power. On Palatine Hill, Nero Claudius Caesar rules as Emperor, a young man adored for his beauty and brilliance, feared for his temper, intoxicated by his own power. His empire stretches from the wilds of Britain to the deserts of Parthia, yet his enemies are never far: generals who command legions, senators who whisper in corridors, people who cheer him in the circus but curse him on the streets. Nero has learned that power is never shared, only seized. He has seen off enemies before, not least his mother, Agrippina. Yet now, Boudicca, queen of the Iceni, leads a revolt in the north. Closer to home, Gaius Julius Vindex --- Roman by office but Gallic by blood --- denounces Nero’s corruption and declares open rebellion against the Emperor from Gaul.
Pegasus Books | 9798897100767 

IRONWOOD: A Catalina Novel by Michael Connelly (Thriller)
Detective Sergeant Stilwell knows that his posting on Catalina Island is no paradise. Acting on a tip from a confidential informant, Stilwell and his deputies watch a plane land in the middle of the night at the Airport in the Sky, a remote airstrip in the mountains. A duffel bag of drugs is dropped and the deputies move in, but things quickly go sideways. While Stilwell chases the fleeing pickup man into the mountainside brush, shots are fired on the runway and the plane flies off. An internal inquiry follows, putting Stilwell on the bench until he is cleared of responsibility for the disastrous operation. But he is determined to find out who brought deadly violence to his island, so he begins his own secret investigation into the drug deal gone wrong.
Little, Brown and Company | 9780316595384 

THE LOST EMPIRE OF EMANUEL NOBEL: Romanovs, Revolutionaries, and the Forgotten Titan Who Fueled the World by Douglas Brunt (History)
With the exception of the tsar, Emanuel Nobel was likely the wealthiest man in early 20th-century Russia, and one of the wealthiest in the world. Over three generations, he and his family grew the Russian petroleum industry into a behemoth that surpassed even John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil. The Nobels imported the best practices from America and improved on them, transforming every aspect of the industry. Though Emanuel’s uncle Alfred would become world famous thanks to his creation of the Nobel Prize, the even more successful Nobels in Russia have been largely forgotten. The reason why is one of history’s most gripping untold stories.
Simon & Schuster | 9781668074749 

THE NIGHT BUS by Tessa Bickers (Romance) 
As an entertainment journalist, Daisy Douglas can spot the start of a story a mile away. So when her routine 4am bus ride to the newsroom takes a surprising turn, she notices. For months, the same man has boarded at the same stop, reading the same tattered copy of Virginia Woolf’s ORLANDO over and over as if his life depends on it. When a broken-down bus and a shared walk through the quiet early-morning London streets finally throws them together, Tom reveals the heartbreaking truth as to why he can’t be without his novel. Determined to help him find the answer to the riddle hidden in its pages, Daisy joins Tom on his strange literary quest --- one that leads them to places neither of them ever expected.
Mira | 9781525800092 

NOLAN: The Singular Life of an American Original by Tim Brown (Sports/Biography)
NOLAN is an exploration of God, family, baseball and America --- and a tribute to one of the greatest pitchers to ever step on the mound. Nolan Ryan grew up in the small, hard town of Alvin, Texas, was graced with a fastball, and fell in love with a woman named Ruth. He then honored all three in his pursuit of hardball perfection. Alongside Nolan’s personal story, renowned sportswriter Tim Brown offers a thoughtful, deeply researched history of baseball in the Lone Star State, and an unforgettable account of three glorious decades in the Major Leagues.
Grand Central Publishing | 9781538726525 

ON WITNESS AND RESPAIR: Essays by Jesmyn Ward (Essays)
From the two-time National Book Award winner and New York Times bestselling author Jesmyn Ward, this collection of essays documents more than a decade of work in the life of a singular writer often lauded as “the heir apparent to Toni Morrison” (LitHub). Beginning with her upbringing in a multigenerational household in rural Mississippi, the cradle of both her youth and her gift for storytelling, Ward brings her keen wisdom and hauntingly lyrical prose to a range of topics, following in her grandmother Dorothy’s footsteps when she promises always to “Tell it straight. Tell it all.”
Scribner | 9781668064269

THE ONE DAY YOU WERE MY HUSBAND by Rosie Walsh (Domestic Thriller) 
Carrie and Johan marry on a beach in Thailand only months into their whirlwind romance. But as the wedding festivities stretch into the night, a group of armed men suddenly swarm the beach, taking Johan away. She never sees him again. Twelve years later, Carrie is living in the English countryside with her husband, Robin, and their six-year-old twins. One night, she stumbles across an online post in which she discovers that Johan escaped from Thailand years ago and has been living in Stockholm ever since. As the memories of their passionate relationship flood her, she becomes obsessed with discovering what happened on their wedding day all those years ago. But just when Carrie thinks she knows what she must do, a shocking twist tears apart everything she thought she knew.
Pamela Dorman Books | 9798217060450 

AN ORDINARY SORT OF EVIL: A Rip Through Time Novel by Kelley Armstrong (Historical Mystery/Thriller)
Modern-day homicide detective Mallory Mitchell has grown accustomed to life in Victorian Scotland after traveling 150 years into the past into the body of a housemaid. Even though she works as an assistant to forensic-science pioneer Dr. Duncan Gray and Detective Hugh McCreadie, she considers them true friends. Late one night, Gray and Mallory are summoned urgently to the home of Lady Adler, a patron of Gray’s undertaking business. They arrive in the midst of a seance with a ghost demanding Gray's presence. The ghost is Lady Adler's former maid, who had gone missing but now requests that Gray investigate her murder. Unsure if there's been a murder or not, Gray and Mallory are once again drawn into a mystery much more puzzling --- and more dangerous --- than it first seems.
Minotaur Books | 9781250394354

A PERFECT HAND by Ayelet Waldman (Historical Fiction)
Miss Alice Lockey, the daughter of a tenant farmer, has raised herself to the lofty status of lady’s maid at Alderwick Park. Though her mother has advised her to work only until marriage, Alice thus far has resisted the temptations of matrimony among the neighboring widowers and pig farmers. But when a visiting servant, a valet named Charlie Wells, catches her eye, Alice begins to understand the constraints of her position. In a ploy to spend time with the object of her affection, Alice attempts to arrange a romance between Lady Jemima Alderwick and Charlie’s employer, one Baronet Sir Nigel Wynstowe. If only they would fall in love, then Alice and Charlie might live together as man and wife!
Knopf | 9781101875346 

POLLOCK'S LAST LOVER: A Novel of Art and Deception by Stephen P. Kiernan (Historical Fiction)
In 2006, Sotheby’s sells a painting by Jackson Pollock for $140 million --- the highest sum ever paid for a work of art. Two weeks later, an older woman named Ruth Kligman contacts a smaller, less prominent auction house to announce that she was Pollock’s lover and that he gave her his last painting. She declares that it was selfish to keep it in her apartment for 50 years and that people should see this masterpiece in galleries and museums the world over. The bidding will start at $50 million. Gwen, an up-and-coming associate at the firm, is assigned the task of verifying the painting’s authenticity. Yet each step of the investigation raises larger questions --- about Ruth’s cunning climb in the art world, and even about what caused Pollock’s sudden and violent death.
William Morrow | 9780062878472 

RETURNS AND EXCHANGES by Kayla Rae Whitaker (Fiction) 
It’s December 24, 1979, just before closing at Baker-Taylor’s discount department store, and Fran (née Baker) is surveying her domain. Her husband, Fred, is charming customers in the front of the store. The older Taylor kids are on register, while the younger ones’ chaos is contained to the stockroom. All is right in the world as the new decade approaches. With four healthy children and financial stability their own parents could have only dreamed of, Fred and Fran are the picture of the American Dream --- with a successful chain of family-owned stores built on years of hard work and long hours. Underneath the surface, however, the business is changing at a breakneck pace, and each member of the family is struggling to keep up.
Random House | 9780593733349 

THE SHIPPERS by Katherine Center (Romantic Comedy)
After a lifetime of being bad at love, JoJo Burton vows to solve her intimacy issues once and for all at her sister’s destination wedding on a cruise ship. Armed with pop psychology, she diagnoses herself with a fixation on the neighborhood guy who was her first crush and first kiss (and who just happens to be a newly divorced wedding guest). Determined to woo him for closure, she ropes in her childhood bestie, Cooper Watts, as her wingman. Cooper: who RSVPed no but showed up anyway. Cooper: who moved to London without a word four years ago. Cooper: who broke her heart.
St. Martin's Press | 9781250408051 

TAKE ME WITH YOU by Steven Rowley (Fiction) 
Thirty years into their relationship, college professor Jesse del Ruth witnesses his husband, Norman, get out of bed late one night, walk into their backyard, step into a strange beam of light, and…disappear. How could Norman desert him? Where did he go? Will he ever return? As Jesse struggles to understand Norman’s disappearance, he tries to piece together his new reality. Is he expected to wait patiently for a partner who may never come back? Or is this an opportunity for reinvention? When Norman’s sister, Lally, lands on Jesse’s doorstep with an urgent request, Norman’s absence becomes even more profound. Add to Jesse’s grief and confusion a conspiracy-theorist neighbor, a strange man following him, and suspicions that he may have had a hand in Norman’s disappearance, and Jesse starts to crack under the pressure.
G.P. Putnam's Sons | 9780593851494 

TOM CLANCY RULES OF ENGAGEMENT: A Jack Ryan Novel by Ward Larsen (Thriller/Adventure)
The White House is stunned when the Secretary of Commerce is killed in a plane crash in Turkey. President Jack Ryan isn't ready to write this off as a simple accident. Not only has he lost a good friend, but the Secretary was on an important mission. On the surface he was making an appearance at an economic conference, but the CIA was also using the flight as cover to extract an important asset from the Middle East. Soon, Lt. Commander Katie Ryan and her team are working with the investigators to find the cause of the tragedy, but one shocking revelation changes everything. There were supposed to be 16 people on the plane, but there are only 15 bodies. The quest for answers will lead the team deeper and deeper into a quagmire of lies and deception.
G.P. Putnam's Sons | 9780593718094

On Sale the Week of May 18th in Paperback

May 19th

ABIGAIL AND ALEXA SAVE THE WEDDING by Lian Dolan (Fiction)
Penelope and Chase make a lovely couple, and everyone is excited about their wedding. Except their mothers. The Mother of the Bride, suave Greek-born Alexa Diamandis, doesn’t understand why any woman would get married. The Mother of the Groom, Abigail Blakeman, is a garden club stalwart firmly planted in coastal Connecticut. She thinks the whole enterprise would be so much easier if the wedding was at their golf club. Especially because the family’s fortunes have taken a turn for the worse. But when a sudden twist of fate calls them into action, these two very different women are forced to take over the wedding planning. How far will two moms go to make their children’s dream wedding a reality?
William Morrow Paperbacks | 9780063270664

AFTERTASTE by Daria Lavelle (Fiction)
When Konstantin Duhovny cooks a dish tied to a memory of someone deceased, he can summon their ghost back for one final meal. But what begins as a thrilling gift quickly spins out of control when Kostya decides to open a restaurant that promises to reunite the Living and the Dead. (It turns out that messing with the afterlife comes at a steep cost.) As the boundaries between worlds start to blur, and as Kostya falls in love with a woman with her own secret relationship with the afterlife, he must confront the limits of what can be reclaimed --- and what we must let go --- in order to move on.
Simon & Schuster | 9781668061602

THE ART OF A LIE by Laura Shepherd-Robinson (Historical Mystery)
London, 1749: Following the murder of her husband, Jonas, in a violent street robbery, Hannah Cole is struggling to turn a profit at her confectionery shop on Piccadilly as her suppliers conspire to put her out of business. So when she learns that Jonas had a large sum of money in his bank account, the surprise is, at first, extremely welcome. But her financial windfall attracts the attention of author-turned-magistrate Henry Fielding, who believes the money might have been acquired through ill-gotten means and seeks to confiscate it. Endeavoring to prove otherwise, Hannah enlists the help of William Devereux, a friend of her late husband. As they delve into the mysteries of her Jonas' double life in Georgian London’s gambling dens, Hannah unravels secrets even more devastating than his murder.
Atria Books | 9781668083109

THE DEAD HUSBAND COOKBOOK by Danielle Valentine
(Psychological Thriller/Horror)
When infamous chef, restaurateur and television personality Maria Capello's husband died, the media circus was intense. Whispers claimed Maria murdered her husband to build her culinary empire on his bones, and that there was an all-too-grisly reason his body was never recovered. Yet for the past few decades, the Capello family maintained their stony silence --- until now. Thea Woods has no idea why she was chosen to work with Maria on her sure-to-be-infamous memoir, but she doesn't question her luck. Spirited away to the Capellos' rustic upstate farm, she's soon embroiled in the mystery --- and cut off from the rest of the world. As the true story of Maria's past unfolds and the stench of rot hidden behind the kind coastal grandmother veneer rises, Thea finds herself trapped...and desperately afraid.
Sourcebooks Landmark | 9781464267369

DEEP BREATH written by Rita Halász, translated by Kris Herbert (Fiction)
When we meet Vera, her body and mind are on a precipice. She has just left her marital home to live with her father after her husband’s violent outbursts reach a breaking point. She is experiencing sudden losses of consciousness, spells of insomnia and difficulty eating. Over the course of the year that follows, she reignites a high school romance, looks to her divorced parents for guidance, attempts couples therapy, struggles to mother two young daughters, develops a brief cocaine dependency, and tries to rekindle her artistic practice --- all while questioning the infinite number of choices that led her to this difficult moment.
Catapult | 9781646223268

DESPERATE SPIES: A Secret Lives Mystery by Mark de Castrique
(Political Thriller/Mystery)
Seventy-five-year-old former FBI agent Ethel Fiona Crestwater knows everyone in DC law enforcement --- and is smarter than all of them combined. When a former colleague asks Ethel for help, she agrees without a second thought. But the favor throws Ethel back 18 years, to the botched sting operation that resulted in the murder of an innocent young woman by a Russian gangster --- and nearly ended Ethel’s own life, too. Soon, Ethel and her young tech-whiz sidekick Jesse, her double-first-cousin-twice-removed, find themselves in the crosshairs of some very bad --- and very desperate --- men who will do anything to get their hands on the state secrets they’re seeking. Ethel will have to use all the skills she’s learned during her long career if she’s to save the day, and keep both herself and her beloved cousin alive.
Severn House | 9781448318742

EL DORADO DRIVE by Megan Abbott (Psychological Thriller)
The three Bishop sisters grew up in privilege in the moneyed suburbs of Detroit. But as the auto industry declined, so did their fortunes. Harper, the youngest, is barely making ends meet when her beloved, charismatic sister, Pam --- currently in the middle of a contentious battle with her ex-husband --- and her eldest sister, Debra, approach her about joining an exciting new club. The Wheel offers women like themselves --- middle-aged and of declining means --- a way to make their own money, independent of husbands or families. Quickly, however, the Wheel’s success, and their own addiction to it, leads to greater and greater risks --- and a crime so shocking that it threatens to bring everything down with it.
G.P. Putnam’s Sons | 9780593084984

FORTY LOVE by Jane Costello (Romantic Comedy)
Paperback Original
Jules has lived next door to the local tennis club for years without picking up a racket. As a full-time buyer for a chain of lifestyle stores and a single, widowed mother of a teenager, she doesn’t have time for a hobby --- or for a potential run-in with her old school crush, Sam, whose killer forehand is now in direct view of her bedroom window. In a surge of boldness and facing the anxiety of an empty nest, Jules decides to stop playing it safe and accepts an invitation to join the amateur tennis team. They are desperate for players, and the fact that she doesn't really play doesn't seem to matter. As rallies are hit and friendships are formed, Jules is astonished to find herself in the grip of a passionate, all-consuming relationship…and not only with the tennis.
Zibby Publishing | 9798992427684

FOX by Joyce Carol Oates (Literary/Psychological Thriller)
Who is Francis Fox? A charming English teacher new to the idyllic Langhorne Academy, Fox beguiles many of his students, their parents, and his colleagues at the elite boarding school, while leaving others wondering where he came from and why his biography is so enigmatic. When two brothers discover Fox’s car half-submerged in a pond in a local nature preserve and parts of an unidentified body strewn about the nearby woods, the entire community --- including Detective Horace Zwender and his deputy --- begins to ask disturbing questions about Francis Fox and who he might really be.
Hogarth | 9780593978092

GREAT BIG BEAUTIFUL LIFE by Emily Henry (Romantic Comedy)
Alice Scott is an eternal optimist still dreaming of her big writing break. Hayden Anderson is a Pulitzer Prize-winning human thundercloud. And they’re both on balmy Little Crescent Island to write the biography of a woman no one has seen in years, or at least to meet with the octogenarian who claims to be the Margaret Ives --- tragic heiress, former tabloid princess, and daughter of one of the most storied (and scandalous) families of the 20th century. Margaret invites them both for a one-month trial period, after which she will choose the person who will tell her story. But Margaret is only giving each of them pieces of her story --- pieces they can’t swap to put together because of an ironclad NDA and an inconvenient yearning pulsing between them every time they’re in the same room.
Berkley | 9780593441237

HEART, BE AT PEACE by Donal Ryan (Fiction)
In a small town in Ireland, the local people have weathered the storm of economic collapse and now look to the future: The jobs are back, the dramas of the past seemingly lulled, and although the town bears the scars of its history, new stories have begun to unfold. But an insidious menace now creeps through back-alley shadows and into the lives of the townspeople. Old grudges fester, and new ones arise. Young people are lured by the promise of fast money, while the generation above them tries to hold back the tide of an enemy beyond their control. And the peace of this town is about to be shattered in an unimaginable way.
Penguin Books | 9780593834664

THE HOPE KEEPER by Heather Webb (Historical Fiction)
Paperback Original
1919, Washington, D.C. Elisabeth Beaumont comes from a renowned jeweler family, but after the untimely death of her twin brother, she's left on her own to run the failing family business. Desperate for work, she approaches the affluent crowd that her brother, Julien, once courted to expand Beaumont Jewelers. Their ringleader is wealthy socialite Evalyn McLean, owner of the world's most infamous gemstone, rumored to curse all who travel within its orbit: the Hope Diamond. As Elisabeth is swept into Evalyn's toxic world of dark opulence, the lines defining who she is and where she belongs begin to blur, leading Elisabeth to question all she once believed. When tragedy strikes one night, not only is Elisabeth's fragile friendship with Evalyn put to the test, her carefully constructed glamorous new life comes crashing down.
Sourcebooks Landmark | 9781464221514

THE HOUSE OF NOW AND THEN by Edward Underhill (Fiction/Magical Realism)
Paperback Original
With Harlowe’s academic future over, just like his relationship with his long-term boyfriend Jackson, a suspiciously cheap summer rental on the Cape feels like just the escape he needs. But when he arrives at the picturesque seaside cottage, he’s alarmed to find his discouraging former professor in the living room. His father making coffee in the kitchen. And a handsome young repairman fixing things in the bedroom. Worst of all, Jackson is in the bathroom. None of them will leave. No one else can see them. And they won’t leave him alone. The house isn’t magic only for Harlowe, and as the summer grows hot and thick with tourists, old wounds and fresh secrets --- both in and outside its walls --- begin to transform him.
Avon | 9780063448841

IN THE BONES: A North Country Novel by Tessa Wegert (Mystery/Thriller)
Ex-professional ice hockey superstar Mikko Helle arrives in Cape Vincent, ready to move into his extravagantly renovated waterfront home. Local married mother-of-two Nicole Durham works her connections hard to get hired as his cleaner. She is desperate to expose a secret and is running out of time. But when Nicole disturbs an intruder while cleaning, New York State Police Investigator Tim Wellington discovers that the luxury mansion is hiding its own unthinkable truth. Deep in the basement lie the bones of a young woman, identity unknown. The celebrity athlete. The local. The thief. Everyone is hiding something --- but someone in the North Country is a ruthless killer, and one of the three knows exactly who it is.
Severn House | 9781448318766

THE LAKE ESCAPE by Jamie Day (Domestic Thriller)
Julia, David and Erika grew up together spending summers at their idyllic Vermont lake homes for as long as they can remember. Now adults, the three friends have amassed secrets over the years. This summer, David is eager to show off his newly renovated home and his much-younger girlfriend. He also, unwittingly, brings a nanny with a hidden agenda. When David’s girlfriend mysteriously vanishes after a shouting match, Julia and Erika wonder just how well they know their lifelong friend. The lake harbors a harrowing past: two young women vanished without a trace 30 years ago. Did the lake take another? As a search is mounted, an intricate web of lies, deceits and betrayals spanning generations starts to surface, and everyone finds themselves in danger of becoming the next victim.
St. Martin’s Griffin | 9781250358219

LAST SEEN by Lucy Clarke (Psychological Thriller)
Paperback Original
Seven years ago, two boys went missing at sea --- and only one was brought to shore. The Sandbank, a remote stretch of coast dotted with beach huts, was scarred forever. Sarah’s son survived all those years ago. But on the anniversary of the accident, he disappears without a trace. As new secrets begin to surface, The Sandbank hums with tension and unanswered questions. Sarah’s search grows more desperate, and she starts to mistrust everyone she knows. Someone saw everything on that fateful day seven years ago. And they’ll do anything to keep the truth buried.
Atlantic Crime | 9780802167873

LLOYD McNEIL’S LAST RIDE by Will Leitch (Fiction/Humor)
Lloyd McNeil has just learned he has months to live. He also learns that his 20 years as a beat cop in Atlanta haven’t earned him enough money to take care of his teenage son, Bishop, after he’s gone. But when Lloyd discovers his police benefits will increase exponentially if he dies in the line of duty, he comes up with a plan. Lloyd begins to throw himself into one life-threatening situation after another to try to get himself killed and to provide for his son…but he keeps failing --- and surviving. To his shock, his accidental heroics make him an inspirational icon in the community. But time is still running out for Lloyd to get his affairs in order, to teach Bishop the lessons he needs to be a good person, and to say goodbye.
Harper Perennial | 9780063238572

MIST AND MALICE: A Haven Thriller by Rachel Howzell Hall (Mystery/Thriller)
Paperback Original
Private investigator Sonny Rush, the newest resident of Haven, California, knows that this fogbound coastal hamlet is every bit as dangerous as her hometown of Los Angeles. And when teenager and repeat runaway Honor Butler shows up at Sonny’s door with terror in her eyes, Sonny is immediately pulled into a new case that lands close to home. Honor tells Sonny a horrifying story about where she’s been --- and what she’s been forced to do. Then, hours later, the forest near Sonny’s cottage yields the remains of a missing day laborer. Soon, coincidence sharpens into conspiracy. As Sonny digs deeper, the threads of these cases twist together into something horrifying: a ruthless network preying on the vulnerable, protected by the very people meant to uphold the law.
Thomas & Mercer | 9781662522888

MISTBORN: SECRET HISTORY by Brandon Sanderson (Fantasy/Adventure)
Kelsier, sentenced to die mining the Pits of Hathsin after attempting to rob the Lord Ruler’s palace, arose as a powerful Mistborn and inspired the revolution that shook the foundations of the Final Empire. His name and deeds passed into legend. But was that truly the end of his tale? Whispered hints to those he called friends suggested there was a lot more going on. If you think you know the story of the Mistborn trilogy, think again --- but to say anything more here risks revealing too much. Even knowing of this tale’s existence could be heresy.
Tor Books | 9781250430755

MRS. PLANSKY GOES ROGUE by Spencer Quinn (Mystery)
Mrs. Plansky is fresh off of winning a thrilling senior tennis championship with her doubles partner, Kev Dinardo, and is gearing up to celebrate with him on his yacht. That is, until the yacht is destroyed in a fire. Kev claims the fire was caused by a lightning strike, but there's one small problem --- Mrs. Plansky didn't see any lightning. Her curiosity turns to concern when Kev goes missing. Her suspicion gets the better of her and leads her to break into his house, only to find it ransacked. But Kev isn't the only person Mrs. Plansky has to worry about. A conversation with her dad reveals that not long ago, he'd introduced Kev to Jack, Mrs. Plansky's wayward tennis pro son. And now, her dad either can't remember or has no interest in divulging any details. Worse? Now Jack has gone missing, too.
Minotaur Books | 9781250331854

MURDER IN THE DOLLHOUSE: The Jennifer Dulos Story by Rich Cohen (True Crime)
Rich Cohen’s MURDER IN THE DOLLHOUSE is the chilling, unputdownable story of Jennifer Dulos, a beautiful, rich suburban mother who dropped her kids off at the New Canaan Country School one morning and vanished. Her body has never been found. Dulos was in the midst of an ugly divorce --- one of the most contentious in Connecticut state history. The couple, a beautiful, highly connected pair, met at Brown University, had five children, and led what appeared to be a charmed life. In the wake of her disappearance, Dulos’ husband and his girlfriend were arrested. He killed himself on the day he was supposed to report to court. She was tried and convicted of conspiracy to commit murder.
Picador | 9781250437860

PROOF by Jon Cowan (Legal Thriller)
As a disgraced lawyer with a drinking problem, Jake West is coasting on what’s left of his charm and money. He used to be the kind of lawyer who could convince anyone of anything --- until he decided to take on his father’s biggest client and prove his dad was corrupt. Now Jake finds himself almost at rock bottom, and that’s before his ex-best friend is murdered and Jake is accused of the crime. In a desperate bid to save himself, Jake must sober up and search for the real killer, whom he suspects might be hidden in one of the case files of his father’s illustrious law firm. As he delves into a labyrinth of lies and corruption, Jake teams up with an eclectic group of equally broken people as they all must skirt the law in order to find the proof he needs…no matter the personal or professional cost.
Gallery Books | 9781668051146

THE PUZZLE BOX by Danielle Trussoni (Supernatural/Literary Thriller)
It is the Year of the Wood Dragon, and the ingenious Mike Brink has been invited to Tokyo, Japan, to open the legendary Dragon Box. The box was constructed during one of Japan’s most tumultuous periods, when the samurai class was disbanded and the shogun lost power. In this moment of crisis, Emperor Meiji locked a priceless Imperial secret in the Dragon Box. Only two people knew how to open the box --- Meiji and the box’s sadistic constructor --- and both died without telling a soul what was inside or how to open it. Every 12 years since then, in the Year of the Dragon, the Imperial family holds a clandestine contest to open the box. Every puzzle master who has attempted to open it has died in the process. But Brink is not just any puzzle master. He may be the only person alive who can crack it.
Random House Trade Paperbacks | 9780593595343

THE RIVER IS WAITING by Wally Lamb (Fiction)
New fatherhood, the loss of his job, and a growing secret addiction have thrown Corby Ledbetter’s marriage to his beloved Emily into a tailspin. And that’s before he causes the tragedy that tears the family apart. Sentenced to prison, Corby struggles to survive life on the inside, where he bears witness to frightful acts of brutality but also experiences small acts of kindness and elemental kinship with a prison librarian who sees his light and some of his fellow offenders, including a tender-hearted cellmate and a troubled teen desperate for a role model. Buoyed by them and by his mother’s enduring faith in him, Corby begins to transcend the boundaries of his confinement, sustained by his hope that mercy and reconciliation still might be possible. Can his crimes ever be forgiven by those he loves?
Scribner | 9781668006405

THINGS IN NATURE MERELY GROW by Yiyun Li (Memoir/Essays)
“There is no good way to say this,” Yiyun Li writes at the beginning of this book. “There is no good way to state these facts, which must be acknowledged. My husband and I had two children and lost them both: Vincent in 2017, at sixteen, James in 2024, at nineteen. Both chose suicide, and both died not far from home.” There is no good way to say this --- because words fall short. It takes only an instant for death to become fact, “a single point in a timeline.” Living now on this single point, Li turns to thinking and reasoning and searching for words that might hold a place for James. Li does what she can: “doing the things that work,” including not just writing but gardening, reading Camus and Wittgenstein, learning the piano, and living thinkingly alongside death.
Picador | 9781250437976

THIS IS YOUR MOTHER: A Memoir by Erika J. Simpson (Memoir)
When Erika Simpson was growing up, her mother loomed large, almost biblical in her life. A daughter of sharecroppers and the middle child of 10, her origin story served as a Genesis. Her departure from home and a cheating husband, pursuing higher education along the way, a kind of Exodus. Her rules for survival, often repeated like the Ten Commandments, guided Erika’s own journey into adulthood. And the most important rule? Throughout her life, Sallie Carol preached the power of a testimony --- which often proved useful in talking her way out of a bind with bill collectors. But where does a mother’s story end and a daughter’s begin? In THIS IS YOUR MOTHER, Erika offers a joint recollection of their lives as they navigate the realities of destitution often left undiscussed.
Scribner | 9781668024041

WE PRETTY PIECES OF FLESH by Colwill Brown (Fiction)
“Ask anyone non-Northern, they’ll only know Donny as punchline of a joke or place they changed trains once ont way to London.” But Doncaster is also the home of Rach, Shaz and Kel, bezzies since childhood and Donny lasses through and through. Never mind that Rach is skeptical of Shaz’s bolder plots; or that Shaz, who comes from a rougher end of town, feels left behind when the others begin plotting a course to uni; or that Kel sometimes feels split in two trying to keep the peace. The girls are inseparable, and their friendship as indestructible as they are. But as they grow up and away from one another, a long-festering secret threatens to rip the trio apart.
Holt Paperbacks | 9781250342867

WHERE THE RIVERS MERGE by Mary Alice Monroe (Historical Fiction)
1908: The Lowcountry of South Carolina is at the cusp of change. Mayfield, the grand estate held for generations by the Rivers family, is the treasured home of young Eliza. A free spirit, she refuses to be confined by societal norms. But the Great War, coastal storms and family turmoil bring unexpected challenges to Eliza, putting her on a collision course with the patriarchal traditions of a bygone era. 1988: At 88, Eliza is the scion of the Rivers/DeLancey family. She has fought a lifetime to save her beloved Mayfield and is too independent and committed to quietly retire and leave the fate of the estate to her greedy son. She must make decisions that will assure the future of the land and her family --- or watch them both be split apart.
William Morrow Paperbacks | 9780063249431

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