May 19, 2026

May 19, 2026

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In this newsletter, you will find books releasing the weeks of May 18th and May 25th 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, May 29th at noon ET what books you’ve read, and you’ll have a chance to win A FORTUNE OF SAND by Ruta Sepetys and THE MIDNIGHT TRAIN by Matt Haig, both of which release on May 26th.

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This Week's Bonus News:
Bookreporter.com's Word of Mouth Contest
Win a Copy of A FORTUNE OF SAND by Ruta Sepetys
and THE MIDNIGHT TRAIN by Matt Haig

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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

On Sale the Week of May 25th in Hardcover

May 26th

THE ARCADIAN by Steven Pressfield (Historical Thriller)
Spain, the 1500s. The Iberian Peninsula is splintered by faith and ambition, its kingdoms locked in endless struggle. Armies clash, religions collide, and empires rise on tides of blood. Into this crucible rides Telamon. He has lived a hundred lives across centuries, forever condemned to take up arms. Now, drawn into the brutal conflict between Portuguese invaders and Andalusian defenders, he must face both the battlefield before him and the eternal war within himself. But Telamon is not alone. Across time, through lifetimes, the same figures return: all reborn in new forms, bound together by a cycle neither mercy nor death can break. As the armies close on a desperate city, their destinies entwine once more, and Telamon is forced to reckon with the questions that haunt every warrior’s soul.
W. W. Norton & Company | 9781324124252 

THE ARCHITECT by John Katzenbach (Thriller)
“Remember what your name means. I'm so sorry.” Just two weeks before her final architecture exams, Sloane Connolly receives this cryptic handwritten note from her estranged mother. She returns to her hometown in northwest Massachusetts to discover that her mother has vanished. A thorough search turns up no trace of her, and the police rule her disappearance a suicide. As Sloane deals with the aftermath, she distracts herself by taking on a mysterious commission: to design a memorial for six strangers whose connection to her anonymous client is deliberately kept in the dark. To complete this project, Sloane must trace the lives of all six individuals and uncover the hidden links between them. The secrets she unearths begin to weave dangerously into her own family's tragic history.
Blackstone Publishing | 9798200894116 

BABYLON, SOUTH DAKOTA by Tom Lin (Science Fiction)
When Saul Keng Hsiu and his wife, Mei Lee, move from China to the United States to take possession of a 160-acre homestead bequeathed to them by a distant relative, all they have are the possessions on their back, some hidden gold, and a pocketful of chrysanthemum seeds. After a rocky start and a long, harsh winter, the couple find themselves successfully raising chrysanthemums and livestock --- and soon after, a daughter, Mara. But when representatives from the US Army Corps of Engineers buy an acre of the Hsiu’s farmland and begin building a missile silo, the inexplicable starts to occur. In the years and generations that follow, increasingly impacted by the silo and its residue, the Hsius experience strange, wondrous and tragic events on their farm.
Little, Brown and Company | 9780316576277 

BEFORE I KNEW I LOVED YOU by Toshikazu Kawaguchi (Fiction/Magical Realism)
Toshikazu Kawaguchi takes us back to the warm heart of the mysterious Funiculi Funicula Cafe, with another four guests whose luminous stories of love, lost and won again, will reaffirm your belief in its eternal potential. In this book, we meet the girl who couldn’t call her mother and yearns to reconnect with her; the man who waited for a reply from his girlfriend and never heard from her; the woman anxious to travel ahead to know what her future holds; and the student who travels back to meet his father again, who passed away many years before. Yet the same rules always apply --- you must return before the coffee gets cold. And while it does, memories are revisited, people are changed forever, and the enduring power of love transcends the boundaries of time.
Hanover Square Press | 9781335000682

BENEATH A BROKEN SKY by Joshua Moehling (Mystery/Thriller) 
It's a hot, miserable summer in the small town of Sandy Lake. Detective Ben Packard has finally settled into life here --- just in time for a tornado to sweep through the county, causing irreparable damage. Hiding among the debris is someone with a secret. When a mother who made enemies defending her bullied son is killed, the suspect list stretches across the entire town. For Packard, the case hits uncomfortably close to home. The deeper he digs, the more Sandy Lake hums with a tension that refuses to break. As thick smoke from nearby wildfires chokes the air, someone from Packard's past shows up on his doorstep without warning, forcing him to confront the reality of navigating life as a gay man in a small town bent on tradition, no matter the cost. 
Poisoned Pen Press | 9781728279046

THE BOLEYN SECRET by Alison Weir (Historical Fiction) 
At 12 years old, Katherine Carey attends her aunt, Queen Anne Boleyn, to the scaffold. Horrified by what she witnesses, Katherine is convinced that King Henry VIII is a murderer and has sent an innocent woman to a terrible death. Although the Boleyn family has now fallen from favor, Katherine still manages to secure a coveted role as companion to her now-motherless cousin, the young Lady Elizabeth. Only when her mother lies dying does Katherine learn the life-shattering truth that the Boleyns have been hiding for years. It is a secret that follows Katherine throughout her life, as she flees religious persecution with her husband and lives abroad in fear, returning home only when Elizabeth becomes queen. But the bond between the Boleyn cousins will never be the same again.
Ballantine Books | 9780593974735 

THE BROTHERS McKAY: A Longmire Mystery by Craig Johnson (Mystery)
When Pepper McKay, one of the most hated men in Absaroka County, is found murdered on his ranch in Crazy Woman Canyon, suspects aren’t in short supply. But Sheriff Walt Longmire’s attention is on those who had gathered for a family meeting that evening, McKay’s very different sons: a smooth-talking charmer, a cosmopolitan journalist, a reclusive monk, and a half-Native ranch hand who keeps the place running. Each had a motive. Each claims he’s innocent. As Walt investigates what happened that night at the O-Kay Lodge, he’s pulled into a tangle of old grudges and long-buried secrets. Then the case takes a sharp turn: a second body surfaces, and a wildfire tears through the canyon, trapping Walt and forcing him into a fight for his life as both the killer and the elements close in.
Viking | 9780593830734 

DEAD WEIGHT written by Hildur Knútsdóttir, translated by Mary Robinette Kowal (Psychological Thriller/Horror)
Unnur was living a normal, if lonely, life until a black cat showed up at her door. When she tracks down the cat’s wayward owner, she finds a young woman just as lost and in need of help. Like a gust of cold air in a Reykjavík night, Ásta and her pet slip into Unnur’s life. It’s unexpected, but welcome. Unnur likes the company, and she begins to rely on Ásta in turn. But like a black cat, trouble has been tailing her new friend, and Unnur is the only one there for Ásta when things take a violent turn. The two women quickly learn: nothing tests a friendship like blood on your hands.
Tor Nightfire | 9781250329295 

THE FINAL TARGET by Nora Roberts (Psychological Thriller)
He showed up at Arden Bowie’s debut author appearance with a copy of her novel and an eager smile. Then he came to her next event. And the one after that. Dustin was just an aspiring writer who wanted advice, Arden reassured herself. But after chatting with him over coffee, she discovered that ignoring her inner alarm bell had been a terrible mistake. After a harrowing assault, she finds herself hiding behind locked doors. And her relief at his imprisonment is tempered by anxiety when Dustin’s wealthy mother helps to get him a paltry five-year sentence at a psychiatric facility. Arden moves to a tiny Oregon town and befriends Gideon, an ex-LAPD detective. But while she learns to thrive, Dustin remains his delusional, twisted self, as fixated as ever and now seething with anger.
St. Martin's Press | 9781250413581 

A FORTUNE OF SAND by Ruta Sepetys (Historical Fiction)
Detroit, 1927. A city of smoke and ambition, where glittering wealth conceals a graveyard of secrets. Marjorie Lennox is the youngest daughter of a powerful Detroit dynasty. Creative, reckless and never quite what they wanted, Marjorie has spent her life overlooked by her controlling father and self-absorbed siblings. But when she secretly applies to an elite arts program backed by a mysterious patron, she grabs the chance to finally step out of her family’s shadow. The program is strict in ways that feel sinister. Doors lock at strange hours. Rumors spread about women going missing. And the handsome benefactor behind it all is as magnetic as he is unsettling. As Marjorie gets pulled deeper into his world, she must fight to discover the truth before she loses herself completely.
Ballantine Books | 9798217093243

GHALEN: A Romance in Black by Walter Mosley (Fiction)
Ghalen, a brilliant young Black man, is the son of two seemingly mismatched parents. His mother is a gifted scientist whose own mother expected her to exceed all the achievements in her family. His father is a gentle cook at a small vegan restaurant whose idiosyncratic nature shows the young woman a radically different love and understanding of life, despite his inexperience and lack of education. His parents’ grand love story starts it all off, setting us up to follow Ghalen and his family so deeply that each new twist and turn feels personal. The journey through Ghalen’s coming-of-age tale, as he ventures out into the world, is marked with peaks and valleys and such a drive that you can’t help but strap in for it all.
Amistad | 9780063451551 

I HEAR A NEW WORLD by Alan Moore (Historical Fantasy)
It's 1958, and Dennis Knuckleyard has decided to leave his adventures in the Great When in the past where they belong. For nine years, he's avoided so much as thinking about the magical version of London until he rediscovers a key that he'd secretly brought into his own world from the other for safekeeping. When Dennis gives the key to a friend, its magical properties reawaken, bringing creatures from the other world into Dennis' and sparking riots in Notting Hill. Even worse, Dennis' old crush, Grace Shilling, has been forced into the Great When to investigate strange happenings in both cities. Desperate to keep Grace safe, Dennis follows her into Long London. But once inside the other city, it will not let him go away again so easily.
Bloomsbury Publishing | 9781635578881 

THE LAND AND ITS PEOPLE: Essays by David Sedaris (Essays)
In THE LAND AND ITS PEOPLE, David Sedaris investigates what it means to be a traveler, a brother, a lifelong friend. Trying on the role of caretaker after his boyfriend Hugh’s hip-replacement surgery, he both succeeds and fails. He covers ground with his friend, Dawn, and challenges her to eat a truck tire. Ever adding to his list of “Countries I Have Been To,” he rides a horse named Tequila in Guatemala, buys a bespoke priest’s cassock in Vatican City, and goes on safari in Kenya without taking a single photo. Throughout these essays, Sedaris shows how much there is to marvel at when you keep your head up and your eyes open, observing with warmth and curiosity this fascinating human species and the lands we inhabit.
Little, Brown and Company | 9780316264839 

THE MIDNIGHT TRAIN by Matt Haig (Science Fiction/Fantasy)
No one can change the past, but the Midnight Train can take you there. The chance to relive the moments that meant most. To see what kind of person you really were. For Wilbur, his best days were with Maggie, the love of his life. On his honeymoon in Venice. Before he gave it all away. He wishes he could go back and live differently. But to do so risks everything.
Viking | 9780593833377 

SAY NEPHEW: On Boyhood, Unclehood, and Queer Mentorship by Steven Pfau (Memoir)
In SAY NEPHEW, Steven Pfau blends memoir and criticism to celebrate the gay uncles who shape our sense of queer identity, culture and history. The most influential figure in Pfau’s gay boyhood --- the mentor who set the standard for all his future mentors --- was his uncle Bruce. A charismatic storyteller, Bruce came out in 1950s Memphis and lived in New York City through many of the defining events of the gay liberation era. Bruce was both a unique fixture in his nephew’s upbringing and a link in a long lineage of uncles, literal and figurative, who have offered various forms of queer tutelage to younger men. But what role is the nephew supposed to play in these relationships? And who does he become once his uncles are no longer there to guide him?
Catapult | 9781646222919 

THE VISIONARIES: Bretton Woods, the Marshall Plan, and the Making of the Post-World War II Order by James Holland (History)
James Holland’s deep knowledge of WWII gives him unique insight and appreciation for its historic aftermath. THE VISIONARIES chronicles the prelude to the Marshall Plan --- from Franklin Roosevelt’s historic “four freedoms” speech and “Good Neighbor Policy” towards Central and South America to the landmark Bretton Woods Conference of July 1944, which established the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, pillars of world stability. But it was Truman who pushed for the Marshall Plan, which in 1948 kickstarted via economic assistance the fastest period of growth in European history. However, Holland warns that we in the West have become complacent, less willing to safeguard the freedoms that extended prosperity has allowed.
Atlantic Monthly Press | 9780802168078 

On Sale the Week of May 25th in Paperback

May 26th

ANGEL DOWN by Daniel Kraus (Historical/Supernatural Thriller)
Private Cyril Bagger has managed to survive the unspeakable horrors of the Great War through his wits and deception, swindling fellow soldiers at every opportunity. But his survival instincts are put to the ultimate test when he and four other grunts are given a deadly mission: venture into the perilous No Man’s Land to euthanize a wounded comrade. What they find amid the ruined battlefield, however, is not a man in need of mercy but a fallen angel, seemingly struck down by artillery fire. This celestial being may hold the key to ending the brutal conflict, but only if the soldiers can suppress their individual desires and work together. As jealousy, greed and paranoia take hold, the group is torn apart by their inner demons, threatening to turn their angelic encounter into a descent into hell.
Atria Books | 9781668068519

AUTOCORRECT: Stories written by Etgar Keret, translated by Jessica Cohen and Sondra Silverston (Fiction/Short Stories)
Set in our world, alternate realities, distant futures and the immortal realm, the stories in AUTOCORRECT traverse the wide range of human experience. With wit and creativity, Etgar Keret blends the absurd and the profound, juxtaposing life's smallest details with weighty existential questions. A man names an asteroid after his wife only to find that it's on a collision course with Earth in “For the Woman Who Has Everything.” In “Squirrels,” a widower's husband reincarnates as a rodent, and “Eating Olives at the End of the World” considers proper social etiquette in the face of destruction. Keret's stories probe society's uncomfortable truths, searching for meaning in our ever-changing world.
Riverhead Books | 9780593717240

THE BACHELORETTE PARTY by Camilla Sten (Psychological Thriller/Horror)
On a remote island nestled off the coast of Sweden, four friends meet every year. The idea is to drink beer, dance by the water, and shake off the weight of life's expectations. The location of the island is a secret to everyone but them. Ten Years Later. Ever since she was a teenager, Tessa Nilsson has been consumed by the story of four friends who disappeared. Her best friend, Anneliese, wants to have a bachelorette party before she walks down the aisle. The destination is Baltic Vinyasa, a sleek, sophisticated yoga retreat on a small island off the coast --- one with such similar characteristics to the tragedy years ago that it raises the hair on Tessa’s neck. Tessa will not pass this up. It’s her last chance to find out what happened to the four women. And it’s someone else’s last chance to get revenge.
Minotaur Books | 9781250888426

THE BEAST IN THE CLOUDS: The Roosevelt Brothers' Deadly Quest to Find the Mythical Giant Panda by Nathalia Holt (History)
By 1928, dozens of expeditions had scoured the Himalayas in search of the panda bear, an animal many believed to be a myth. That year, the two eldest sons of President Theodore Roosevelt and a small team of scientists and naturalists launched their own dangerous journey. Lost in blizzards, attacked by robbers, ravaged by illness, and cut off from food supplies, the brothers’ crew was pushed to its physical and emotional limits. They would accomplish what years of exploration had not --- introducing the panda to the Western world. Along the way, they documented a rapidly disappearing landscape and helped bring about a new era of conservation biology.
Atria/One Signal Publishers | 9781668027752

BUG HOLLOW by Michelle Huneven (Fiction)
When Sally Samuelson was eight years old, her golden boy brother, Ellis, went missing the summer he graduated high school. Ellis finally turned up at the bucolic Bug Hollow, a last gasp of the beautiful Northern California counterculture in the ’70s. He had found joy in the communal life there, but he died in a freak accident weeks later. From that point, the world of the Samuelsons never spins on the same axis, especially after Julia, Ellis’ girlfriend from Bug Hollow, shows up pregnant on their doorstep. 
Penguin Books | 9780593834893

THE DIVORCE by Freida McFadden (Psychological Thriller)
Paperback Original
Naomi was living the quintessential love story. Boy meets girl. They fall in love, get married, buy a dream house and start a family. Then --- he kicks her out, hires the city's best divorce lawyers, drains their accounts, and takes up with a twenty-something. It's a brutal end to the story. Naomi should accept defeat: move into a dingy apartment, get back into the workforce, and piece together the shattered remains of her life. Except, why should she? Instead, Naomi fixates on her husband's new girlfriend. What begins as cynical curiosity soon twists into obsession --- and then into something far darker. As Naomi uncovers secrets she never imagined, she realizes her own life may be in danger.
Poisoned Pen Press | 9781464249631

DOLLY ALL THE TIME by Annabel Monaghan (Romantic Comedy)
Paperback Original
Dolly Brick has never met a problem she couldn’t solve. Not when her mom left when she was 12, and not at 39 when she moves with her son back to Whitfield, Rhode Island, for the summer to keep her dad and brother from losing the family home. So when she comes across Stewart Whitfield --- the annoyingly handsome scion of the Whitfield family --- with a flat tire and at the wrong end of a very public, very humiliating breakup, it’s in her nature to help. But Stewart’s proposed arrangement ends up being more than either of them bargained for, because Dolly starts to feel something more than helpful. She’s never relied on anyone besides herself. Can she really start now?
G.P. Putnam's Sons | 9780593853979

END GAME by Jeffrey Archer (Mystery/Thriller)
London, 2012. The eyes of the world are on Britain as the country prepares to host the Olympic Games. But the glare of the spotlight makes London a target for some of the most dangerous people on earth. And the moment the bid is won, an international conspiracy is set in motion to unleash a devastating attack that will leave the world in chaos. One man stands between triumph and disaster: Commander William Warwick, heading up Scotland Yard's elite team. But as he pursues the shadowy organization, he sets off a deadly game of cat and mouse that will take him from the bustling streets of London to the hidden corridors of power. Can Warwick stop the assassin before the greatest show on earth becomes a catastrophe?
HarperCollins | 9780008795849

ENDLING by Maria Reva (Fiction)
Ukraine, 2022. Yeva is a maverick scientist who scours the country’s forests, trying and failing to breed rare snails. To fund her work, she entertains Westerners who come to Ukraine on guided romance tours believing they’ll find docile wives. Nastia and Solomiya are also entangled in the booming marriage industry, posing as a hopeful bride and her translator. Together, the three women embark on the journey of a lifetime with a truckful of kidnapped bachelors and a last-of-his-kind snail --- that is, until Russia invades.
Vintage | 9781984897596

FOR RICHER FOR POORER by Danielle Steel (Fiction)
After working as the head designer for Oscar de la Renta, Eugenia Ward started her own company when she turned 40. She is now a major name in evening gowns and wedding gowns, ready-to-wear and haute couture. But with the fashion business in a major downturn, she recently has suffered heavy losses and desperately needs new investors --- and new ideas. At the same time, she is the matriarch and guiding light for her five adult children, a single mother for more than a decade. Patrick Hughes, a successful real estate developer, is also going through a rough patch and gives Eugenia valuable advice about her business challenges. But as her family gathers for her daughter’s big wedding, tensions are running high, money may be running out, and a hurricane is looming on the horizon.
Dell | 9780593498811

GUESS AGAIN by Charlie Donlea (Psychological Thriller)
Ten years ago, 17-year-old high school volleyball star Callie Jones vanished from her quiet Wisconsin lake community. A highly publicized search followed, but her body was never found. Ethan Hall, a former renegade detective turned ER doctor, left law enforcement to escape the horrors of the kid crime division. But on the 10th anniversary of Callie’s disappearance, his former partner, Pete Kramer, makes a desperate request. Pete is the veteran detective who originally investigated the case. Now he’s dying, and he needs Ethan to return to the haunting work he left behind --- and solve what happened to Callie, once and for all. It turns out there is much more to the nightmare of Callie’s disappearance than Ethan imagined, including a connection with his own dark past…and secrets that are still worth killing for.
Kensington | 9781496753977

HAVE A GREAT SUMMER by Francesca Cocchi (Romance)
Paperback Original
Lina Mariano is stuck --- in her hometown, in her job, and in the past. And after six years of writing up local weddings as a columnist for a popular lifestyle website, she’s wholeheartedly sick of nuptials. Worse, the next one on her list is none other than Sebastian Nikolaou’s. Working high school summers with Sebastian at his mother’s iconic beach restaurant, teenage Lina was totally wrapped up in the way he made her feel --- until the night that everything changed. Even so, she’s embarrassed to admit how often she still thinks of him. It will take a careful look at her younger self, and some wisdom from the best friend who was there for it all, to see that making her dreams come true is up to her alone --- whether or not those dreams still include Sebastian.
Kensington | 9781496760784

THE IDAHO FOUR: An American Tragedy by James Patterson and Vicky Ward (True Crime)
THE IDAHO FOUR chronicles the story that began on November 13, 2022, in Moscow, Idaho. In the dark early hours, the lives of four friends and college students were cut short by unspeakable violence. The book --- now featuring a newly reported conclusion --- is an exploration of a complex criminal investigation and its devastating aftermath. It is a timeless portrait of the worst and best in us.
Little, Brown and Company | 9781538766521

THE LAKE HOUSE: A Firefly Summer Novel by Lori Foster (Fiction)
Paperback Original
When Pixie Nolan first came to Bramble, Kentucky, the abandoned and desperate young single mother found hope, healing and a fresh start. With the loving support of her best friends, she is now happily raising her toddler son in a cozy cottage. She never expected to make an electrifying connection with a summer renter, a retired Navy SEAL with his own complicated past. Brogan Rafferty arrives with an adorable baby girl in tow and settles into the lake house next door. But it’s no coincidence that Brogan has found Pixie, and his startling revelations make it clear she’s the key to healing old regrets and building new dreams. And when a hostile stranger turns up with shocking accusations against Bramble’s new hometown hero, Pixie must put her own fears and heartbreak away for good.
Kensington | 9781496752383

LOOSE LIPS: A Ghostwriter Mystery by Kemper Donovan (Literary Mystery)
Sometimes, even a first-rate ghostwriter and successful mystery author needs to make a buck. Even if that means setting foot on a cruise ship, something she vowed she’d never do. To top it off, the “Get Lit Cruise” is being organized by Payton Garrett, a bestselling author --- and the ghostwriter’s longtime frenemy from back in their MFA days. Payton has acquired a rabid following who eagerly snapped up the invitations sent to a select few of her newsletter subscribers. The guests, all female, will receive personalized instruction from experts in five different writing genres. When an attendee is found dead under suspicious circumstances and several others suffer symptoms of poisoning, there are numerous motives and suspects to choose from. As the body count rises along with onboard tensions, no one is safe.
A John Scognamiglio Book | 9781496744579

LOVE ON THE SHELF by Sheila Roberts (Romantic Comedy)
Paperback Original
Alice Willoughby and her mom run HEA Books, a cozy shop devoted to love stories and the people who crave them. Alice is great at matching customers with their perfect happily-ever-after. She just can’t seem to find her own. Enter Parker Black, a disillusioned radio host who’s reinvented himself as a romance-bashing shock jock. Bitter from his breakup with a romance author, Parker takes aim at the entire genre --- and his on-air rants start stirring up trouble for Alice’s loyal customers and their partners. His crusade leads to spirited debates and bookstore protests. But when unexpected sparks fly between the two of them, Alice begins to wonder if her favorite trope --- enemies to lovers --- might actually be playing out in real life.
Mira | 9780778305828

THE MARTHA’S VINEYARD BEACH AND BOOK CLUB by Martha Hall Kelly (Historical Fiction)
In 2016, 34-year-old Mari Starwood travels to Martha’s Vineyard with nothing but a name on a piece of paper: Elizabeth Deveraux. Mari isn’t sure what to expect when she finally makes it to the reclusive artist’s stunning waterfront property, but she is shocked to find out that her relationship to the island runs deeper than she ever thought possible. In 1942, the Smith sisters are faced with the impossible task of holding their family farm together during WWII as the U.S. Army arrives on Martha’s Vineyard and their brother ships out to fight on the frontlines. In an attempt at normalcy, the girls start a book club that soon grows in both number and influence. But their lives are upended when a mysterious man washes up on the shore, and they find themselves questioning who they can truly trust in these turbulent times.
Ballantine Books | 9780593354933

THE MEDUSA PROTOCOL: An Assassins Anonymous Novel by Rob Hart (Thriller)
When Astrid, known in her assassin days as Azrael, stopped showing up to Assassins Anonymous, the group assumed her past had caught up with her. Only her sponsor Mark, formerly the deadliest killer in the world, holds out hope that she’s okay. Then, during a meeting, the group gets a sign…or rather, a pizza delivery. Is there another psychopath out there who actually likes olives on their pizza, or is Astrid trying to send Mark a message? Meanwhile, Astrid wakes up in the cell of a black site prison on a remote island. A doctor subjects her to mysterious experiments, plumbing the depths of her memory and looking for a vital clue from her past. She’ll do anything to escape, except…killing anyone. It turns out it’s not easy to blow this joint without blowing anything, or anyone, up.
G.P. Putnam's Sons | 9780593717448

MURDER TAKES A VACATION by Laura Lippman (Mystery)
Mrs. Blossom has a knack for blending into the background, which was an asset during her days assisting private investigator Tess Monaghan. But when she finds a winning lottery ticket in a parking lot, everything changes. She is determined to see the world that she sometimes feels is passing her by. When Mrs. Blossom booked her cruise through France on the MS Solitaire, she did not expect to meet Allan on her transatlantic flight. He is the first man who has sparked something inside her since her beloved husband passed. She also didn’t expect Allan to be found dead 24 hours later in Paris, a city he wasn’t supposed to be in. Now Mrs. Blossom doesn’t know who to trust on board the ship, especially when a mystifying man, Danny, keeps popping up around every corner, always present when things go awry.
William Morrow Paperbacks | 9780062998118

NEVER FLINCH by Stephen King (Psychological Thriller/Horror)
When the Buckeye City Police Department receives a disturbing letter from a person threatening to “kill thirteen innocents and one guilty” in “an act of atonement for the needless death of an innocent man,” Detective Izzy Jaynes has no idea what to think. Are 14 citizens about to be slaughtered in an unhinged act of retribution? As the investigation unfolds, Izzy realizes that the letter writer is deadly serious, and she turns to her friend, Holly Gibney, for help. Meanwhile, controversial and outspoken women’s rights activist Kate McKay is embarking on a multi-state lecture tour. Someone who vehemently opposes Kate’s message of female empowerment is targeting her and disrupting her events. At first, no one is hurt, but the stalker is growing bolder, and Holly is hired to be Kate’s bodyguard.
Scribner | 9781668089347

THE QUEEN WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD by SJ Bennett (Historical Mystery)
1961, England. The Queen is spending a night on board the royal train with her entourage and her sister, Princess Margaret. But before they reach their destination, an unreliable witness claims to have seen a brutal murder from one of the carriages. The Queen and her assistant private secretary, Joan McGraw, get to work on their second joint investigation. No one else saw the crime. If there is a victim, could he be the missing photographer friend of Margaret’s new husband, Tony Armstrong Jones? This time, the Cold War threatens to undermine the Queen’s upcoming visit to Italy. She and Joan must tackle dark forces that follow them all the way, in a tale of spies, lies and treachery.
Crooked Lane Books | 9798892425339

REMAIN: A Supernatural Love Story by Nicholas Sparks with M. Night Shyamalan (Paranormal Romance)
When New York architect Tate Donovan arrives in Cape Cod to design his best friend’s summer home, he is hoping to make a fresh start. Recently discharged from an upscale psychiatric facility where he was treated for acute depression, he is still wrestling with the pain of losing his beloved sister. Sylvia’s deathbed revelation --- that she can see spirits who are still tethered to the living world --- sits uneasily with him. But when Tate takes up residence at a historic bed-and-breakfast on the Cape, he encounters a beautiful young woman named Wren who will challenge every assumption he has about his logical and controlled world. They forge an immediate connection. But below the surface of Wren’s idyllic small-town life, hatred, jealousy and greed are festering, threatening their fragile relationship just as it begins to blossom.
Dell | 9798217154050

RETURN TO SENDER: A Longmire Mystery by Craig Johnson (Mystery)
When Blair McGowan, the mail person with the longest postal route in the country of over 300 miles a day, goes missing, the question becomes: Where do you look for her? The Postal Inspector for the State of Wyoming elicits Sheriff Walt Longmire to mount an investigation into her disappearance, and Walt does everything but mail it in. Posing as a letter carrier himself, the good sheriff follows her trail and finds himself enveloped in the intrigue of an otherworldly cult.
Penguin Books | 9780593830727

RUN FOR THE HILLS by Kevin Wilson (Fiction)
Ever since her dad left them 20 years ago, it’s been just Madeline Hill and her mom on their farm in Coalfield, Tennessee. While it’s a bit lonely and a less exciting life than what she imagined for herself, it’s mostly okay. Then one day, Reuben Hill pulls up in a PT Cruiser and informs Madeline that he believes she’s his half-sister. Reuben, who was left behind by their dad 30 years ago, has hired a detective to track down their father and a string of other half-siblings. And he wants Madeline to leave her home and join him for the craziest kind of road trip imaginable to find them all. As Madeline and Reuben --- and eventually the others --- share stories of their father, who behaved so differently in each life he created, they begin to question what he was looking for with every new incarnation.
Ecco | 9780063317529

SEDUCTION THEORY by Emily Adrian (Fiction)
Simone is the star of Edwards University’s creative writing department: renowned Woolf scholar, grief memoirist and campus sex icon. Her husband, Ethan, is a forgotten novelist and lecturer in the same department. But when Ethan sleeps with the department administrative assistant, Abigail, the couple’s faith in their flawless relationship is rattled. While Ethan is away for the summer, she grows inordinately close with her advisee, graduate student Roberta “Robbie” Green. But behind Simone’s back, Robbie fictionalizes her mentor’s marriage in a breathtakingly invasive MFA thesis. Determined to tell her version of the story, Robbie paints a revealing portrait of Simone, Ethan, Abigail and even herself, scratching at the very surface of what may --- or may not --- be the truth.
Little, Brown Paperbacks | 9780316584524

SHOPGIRLS by Jessica Anya Blau (Fiction)
Nineteen-year-old Zippy is the newest and youngest salesgirl at I. Magnin, “San Francisco’s Finest Department Store.” For a girl who grew up in a one-bedroom apartment above a liquor store with her mother and her mother’s madcap boyfriend, Howard, and who wanted to go to college but had no help in figuring out how, I. Magnin represents a real chance for a better and more elegant life. Or, at the very least, a more interesting one. Zippy may not be in school, but she’s about to get an education that will stick with her for decades. However, just when she thinks she’s getting a handle on how to be an adult woman in 1985, two surprises threaten both her sense of self and her coveted position at I. Magnin.
Mariner Books | 9780063052369

THE SOUTH by Tash Aw (Fiction)
When his grandfather dies, Jay travels south with his family to the property they’ve inherited, a once flourishing farm that has fallen into disrepair. The trees are diseased, the fields parched from months of drought. Jay’s father, Jack, sends him out to work the land, or whatever land is left. Over the course of these hot, dense days, Jay finds himself drawn to Chuan, the son of the farm’s manager, different from him in every way except for one. Out in the fields, and on the streets into town, the charge between the boys intensifies. Inside the house, the other family members begin to confront their own secrets and regrets.
Picador | 9781250437969

TAKING MANHATTAN: The Extraordinary Events That Created New York and Shaped America by Russell Shorto (History)
In 1664, England decided to invade the Dutch-controlled city of New Amsterdam on Manhattan Island. Charles II and his brother, the Duke of York, had dreams of empire, and their archrivals, the Dutch, were in the way. But Richard Nicolls, the military officer who led the English flotilla bent on destruction, changed his strategy once he encountered Peter Stuyvesant, New Netherland’s canny director general. TAKING MANHATTAN reveals the founding of New York to be an invention, the result of creative negotiations that would blend the multiethnic, capitalistic society of New Amsterdam with the power of the rising English empire. But the birth of what might be termed the first modern city is also a story of the brutal dispossession of Native Americans and of the roots of American slavery.
W. W. Norton & Company | 9781324130581

THUS WITH A KISS I DIE by Christina Dodd (Historical Mystery)
I, Rosie Montague of Verona, am 20 years old, and I’ve never been wed. I’m beautiful but without conceit, for Juliet, my legendary Mamma, is the most gorgeous creature to ever walk the earth. Just ask Romeo, my legendary Papà. (Rumors of their deaths were premature.) I was heartwhole until I fell (literally) in love with Lysander of the House of Beautiful. But our love was not to be, for I was thwarted by Escalus, the Prince of Verona…who had designs on me. I’m trapped. Then I’m presented with a solution. Escalus’ father, Prince Escalus the Elder, appears to me. He tasks that I find his killer. Did I mention Elder is a ghost? Meanwhile, revolution threatens, for beneath Verona society’s glittering surface lurk dark shadows --- and an enemy eager to make me a tragic heroine in my own right.
A John Scognamiglio Book | 9781496750204

THE VIOLET HOUR by Victoria Benton Frank (Fiction)
Violet Adams is the perfect, youngest child in a family of loud, passionate women on Sullivan’s Island, South Carolina. As the sweet, traditional one, she’s always been the steady hand in her family. But after a sudden breakup and subsequent tragedy, she doesn’t know who she is anymore. Aly Knox, Violet’s best friend, is a young influencer still struggling with the loss of her mother and adjusting to joining Violet in Southern living. With her best friend’s help, Violet is determined to break out of her shell --- and who she thought she was --- no matter what. And what better place to look for success, meaning and possibly love than the Lowcountry of South Carolina?
Gallery Books | 9781668067772

THE WAR BEYOND by Andrea Stewart (Fantasy/Adventure)
Hakara risked her life to find her long-lost sister, Rasha, only to lose her all over again. Now she and her Unanointed rebels hunt for the shapeshifter Lithuas, knowing that defeating her would strike a blow to the plans of the tyrant god Kluehnn. Rasha once longed to be reunited with Hakara. No longer. Now she is a Godkiller and proud to serve Kluehnn’s divine will. Yet she also harbors doubts about Kluehnn’s teachings. When she is sent to destroy Hakara and her allies, Rasha will have to decide where her loyalty truly lies. As the two sisters hurtle towards a bloody reunion, Sheuan continues her shadowy games of intrigue to uncover the secret that killed her father, while her cousin, Mullayne, seeks the tomb of Tolemne. There, Mull believes he’ll find the answers he desires.
Orbit | 9780316564847

WHAT KIND OF PARADISE by Janelle Brown (Mystery/Thriller)
Growing up in an isolated cabin in Montana in the mid-1990s, Jane knows only the world that she and her father live in: the woodstove that heats their home, the vegetable garden where they try to eke out a subsistence, the books of 19th-century philosophy that her father gives her to read in lieu of going to school. Her father is elusive about their pasts, giving Jane little beyond the facts that they once lived in the Bay Area and that her mother died in a car accident. But when Jane realizes that her devotion to him has made her an accomplice to a horrific crime, she flees Montana to the only place she knows to look for answers about her mysterious past and her mother’s death: San Francisco. It is here where she will come to question everything she values.
Random House Trade Paperbacks | 9780593449806

WOODWORKING by Emily St. James (Fiction)
Erica Skyberg is 35 years old, recently divorced --- and trans. Not that she's told anyone yet. Mitchell, South Dakota, isn't exactly bursting with other trans women. Instead, she keeps to herself, teaching by day and directing community theater by night. That is, until Abigail Hawkes enters her orbit. Abigail is 17, Mitchell High’s resident political dissident and Only Trans Girl. It’s a role she plays faultlessly, albeit a little reluctantly. She's also annoyed by the idea of spending her senior year secretly guiding her English teacher through her transition. But Abigail remembers the uncertainty --- and loneliness --- that comes with it. Besides, Erica isn’t the only one struggling to shed the weight of others’ expectations. As their unlikely friendship evolves, it comes under the scrutiny of their community.
Crooked Media Reads | 9781638934172

THE WORDS OF DR. L: And Other Stories by Karen E. Bender
(Speculative Fiction/Short Stories)
Grounded in both the contemporary United States and a variety of dystopias, Karen E. Bender’s otherworldly collection examines the evolving dynamics of the nuclear family during adolescence, motherhood, the empty nest, and caring for an aging parent. A young woman seeks to learn the magical words that can terminate her unwanted pregnancy. A mother discovers an extra child in her home she had forgotten about. A couple is separated from their son and encased in globes orbiting the Earth. Society develops a terrible plan to leave the burning planet for a life on Mars. Each story honors the emotional force of its situation by grappling with themes of freedom, self-definition, youth, aging, control and power.
Counterpoint | 9781640097681

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