February 28, 2020

February 28, 2020

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Carol's latest "Bookreporter Talks To" interview is with Luanne Rice,
whose new novel, LAST DAY, is now in stores and is her first thriller.
Click on the image above to listen to the podcast.

Marie Benedict stopped by the office this week to talk about LADY CLEMENTINE,
which will be a Bets On pick next week. We will post the video and podcast the week of March 9th.

On Thursday night, Carol and her son, Greg, attended a Barnes & Noble event with
Steven Levy, who was being interviewed by Issie Lapowsky from Wired magazine
about his new book, FACEBOOK: The Inside Story, which released this week.

Bestselling author Clive Cussler passed away this week at the age of 88.
Last summer, we posted a blog written by Michael Barson, who worked at G.P. Putnam's Sons
(Cussler's publisher) and reflected on the time he spent with Cussler. Above is a picture of them taken in 2015 when they met up in Scottsdale, Arizona, which would be the last time they saw each other.
Click on the photo to read Michael's entertaining piece.

Also, our reviewer Ray Palen has penned his own tribute to Cussler, which you can read here.

Carol recently finished reading THE LAST FLIGHT by Julie Clark,
which releases on June 2nd. It will be a Bets On pick.

Carol will be interviewing Aja Gabel and Anne Enright about their latest books
at the Tucson Festival of Books. She finished THE ENSEMBLE last weekend
and looks forward to reading ACTRESS this weekend.

Carol talks about this week's Bookreporter update in our latest promo video.

An Extra Day!

Quick Notes: Our hosting company is moving our servers tonight, and there may be downtime between 12am and 8am ET on Saturday. Apologies for any inconvenience if you click and a page is not available.

Last week, we asked you to share our newsletter with friends. A few readers wrote asking for an easy way to do that. If you scroll all the way to the bottom of this newsletter, we have ways that you can share it, including a way to forward it to a friend!

I do love an extra day in February, which only happens every four years. I have a few friends who have birthdays on February 29th, so they celebrate once every four years, which is one way to stay young. Of course, this does mess up my February/March calendar system, where in a 28-day month all the dates for February and March fall on the same day of the week. Here is an article about the science behind Leap Day.

This week, we learned the sad news that prolific author Clive Cussler has passed away at the age of 88. Cussler wrote or co-wrote more than 70 books in five bestselling series, including Dirk Pitt, NUMA Files, Oregon Files, Isaac Bell and Sam & Remi Fargo. His nonfiction works include BUILT FOR ADVENTURE: The Classic Automobiles of Clive Cussler and Dirk Pitt, plus THE SEA HUNTERS and THE SEA HUNTERS II. They describe the true adventures of the real NUMA, which, led by Cussler, search for lost ships of historic significance. With his crew of volunteers, Cussler discovered more than 60 ships, including the long-lost Confederate ship Hunley. He had homes in Arvada, Colorado, and Paradise Valley, Arizona, restored vintage cars and had about 100 in his museum in Arvada, including a 1906 Stanley Steamer, a 1913 Marmon and a 1921 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost.

I remember meeting Cussler at the first ThrillerFest in Arizona back in 2006. He was friendly and approachable. We talked books...and cars. My husband long admired his car collection.

We thought it would only be fitting to revisit a piece from last summer written by Michael Barson, who worked at G.P. Putnam’s Sons (Cussler’s publisher) from 1994 to 2015 and is currently the chief publicist for Poisoned Pen Press/Sourcebooks. Here, he recalls the 1999 book tour that he and Cussler went on together (his first of many), which, he says, “was unlike any other I had been involved with up to that time.” Above you can see a picture of them when they got together in Scottsdale, Arizona, five years ago, which would be their final meeting.

Our reviewer Ray Palen covered some of Cussler's books for us and has written a wonderful tribute to him, which you can take a look at here.

I’m excited to share with you our new “Bookreporter Talks To” interview with Luanne Rice, whose latest novel, LAST DAY, is now in stores. This is her first thriller, which tells the story of Kate and her sister in the aftermath of a terrible crime. When violence is inflicted on the family again, Kate struggles to make sense of what happened and who the culprit might be. We had a wonderful discussion about the book and some of the talking points raised by this riveting tale: goodbyes, family secrets, and the deep understanding our friends have of who we really are. It was influenced by a story that affected her family.

Since Luanne was unable to come into the city that day to also be videotaped, we did the segment as a podcast only. For those of you who have never listened to a podcast, we would love for you to give it a try as it’s super simple. This link will take you to a page where you can play the podcast. No downloading is required. Just click and play the same way you would watch a video on YouTube! If you already are a podcast listener, you also can listen to it wherever you regularly listen to podcasts.

Marie Benedict came to the office this week to shoot a video and podcast. We talked about her latest novel, LADY CLEMENTINE, which will be a Bookreporter.com Bets On selection next week. We will share the interview the week of March 9th.

Last night, Greg and I went to see Steven Levy at Barnes & Noble, where he was brilliantly interviewed by Issie Lapowsky from Wired magazine, and they covered a myriad of topics in his new book, FACEBOOK: The Inside Story. You can see a photo of them above. Many of us use Facebook, and Steven gives readers a deep look behind the curtain as he had three years of access to Mark Zuckerberg, Sheryl Sandberg and the entire team at Facebook. The conversation was terrific, which included Steven talking about getting his hands on pages of Mark’s original notebook for the design and outline of the platform.

I just finished reading THE LAST FLIGHT by Julie Clark, which will be in stores on June 2nd, and I loved it. In it, a chance meeting at an airport bar brings Claire, who desperately wants to leave her abusive marriage, into contact with Eva, who also wants to run from something in her life. Together they make a last-minute decision to switch tickets --- Claire taking Eva's flight to Oakland, and Eva traveling to Puerto Rico as Claire. They think this swap will give each of them a chance to start over. But when the flight to Puerto Rico crashes with no survivors, Claire realizes she has been thrust into a very different scenario than she planned. On her own, reading of her assumed death, Claire picks up the pieces of Eva’s life completely unaware of what Eva was running from. This book is so well plotted and action-packed. It will be a Bets On pick, and I already want to read what Julie writes next!

Last weekend, I read THE ENSEMBLE as I am interviewing Aja Gabel about it at the Tucson Festival of Books. It is the story of four members of a classical music ensemble. I confess to not being a classical music aficionado, but the storytelling here had me wrapped up in the adventures of this quartet, and I now understand that world so much more. Also, I am just about finished listening to Diane Chamberlain’s BIG LIES IN A SMALL TOWN, narrated by Susan Bennett, and the story has been unwrapping itself so well. There’s lots of tension in the 1940s portion of the novel with some reveals still to come. I am looking forward to talking to Diane about it in Tucson as well.

Erik Larson follows up such previous bestsellers as THE DEVIL IN THE WHITE CITY and DEAD WAKE with another surefire hit, THE SPLENDID AND THE VILE. Here we have a fresh and compelling portrait of Winston Churchill and London during the Blitz. According to our reviewer Stuart Shiffman, "Perhaps the most compelling portion of THE SPLENDID AND THE VILE can be found in its repeated juxtaposition of London as its citizens sought to lead normal lives while under constant air attacks from Hitler’s Luftwaffe." I am so looking forward to reading this. I have loved hearing Erik speak in the past and am hoping to catch up with him at an event soon.

Steve Berry is back with his 15th Cotton Malone adventure, THE WARSAW PROTOCOL. One by one, the seven precious relics of the Arma Christi, the weapons of Christ, are disappearing from sanctuaries across the world --- and the former Justice Department agent finds himself caught in the middle of a deadly war. The aforementioned Ray Palen has our review and says, "Prolific writer Steve Berry has been creating intelligent, top-shelf fiction for decades. His thrillers take readers on a journey both through the pages of history and directly into the middle of international intrigue. It's as if Dan Brown met James Bond. His novels are always a dizzying thrill ride, and his latest, THE WARSAW PROTOCOL, is no exception."

We’re awarding the audio version of THE WARSAW PROTOCOL (read by Scott Brick), along with J. D. Robb’s GOLDEN IN DEATH (read by Susan Ericksen), in this month’s Sounding Off on Audio contest. Submit your comments about the audiobooks you’ve listened to, and you’ll be in the running to win both these audio titles. Please do so by Monday, March 2nd at noon ET.

Other books we’re reviewing this week include BLINDSIDE by James Patterson and James O. Born, which sees a deal being struck between the mayor of New York, whose daughter is missing and in danger, and Detective Michael Bennett, whose son is in prison; TROUBLE IS WHAT I DO, which marks the return of Walter Mosley’s morally ambiguous P.I. Leonid McGill, who continues to investigate crimes against society's most downtrodden; A COLD TRAIL, the latest installment in Robert Dugoni’s series featuring Seattle homicide detective Tracy Crosswhite, who returns home to a brutal murder and her haunted past; and THE BIG LIE by James Grippando, which finds Miami attorney Jack Swyteck fighting for a “faithless elector,” caught between a corrupt president and his manipulative opponent.

My two latest Bets On picks are SAINT X by Alexis Schaitkin and THE OTHER MRS. by Mary Kubica, both of which we reviewed last week. Click on each of the titles for my commentary. And in case you missed my “Bookreporter Talks To” interview with Alexis, you can watch the video here and listen to the podcast here.

Our latest Word of Mouth prize books are THE JETSETTERS by Amanda Eyre Ward (an upcoming Bets On pick) and YOU ARE NOT ALONE by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen; both release on March 3rd. Let us know by Friday, March 6th at noon ET what books you’ve read, and you’ll have a chance to win these two novels. We will have reviews of both in next week’s newsletter, along with my “Bookreporter Talks To” interview with Amanda.

Our poll continues to ask where you find information online about authors. Click here to let us know by Friday, March 6th at noon ET.

News & Pop Culture

Reader Mail:

Betsy wrote about winning this year's Valentine’s Day contest: “What a wonderful surprise! I was checking my email on my way back from a vacation with my girlfriends when I saw your email notifying me that I won the Valentine’s Day contest! My girlfriends and I get together for a trip every year, and we have a book exchange. I can’t wait to share these books with them. Happy Galentine’s Day indeed! Thank you so much! I look forward to reading each one!”

Deb wrote, “Thank you so very much for the four books that I won as a second prize winner in the Bookreporter.com Bets On 2019 End-of-the-Year Contest. They arrived in early February. I am looking forward to reading them as soon as I finish our March book club read, BORN A CRIME by Trevor Noah. I enjoy and always look forward to your weekly email newsletter. I have been reading it since 2001 when I joined a neighborhood book club in Wisconsin. Now I am in Denver and spreading the word in my neighborhood book club where I send the communications and keep track of the schedule and books we have read. 

"I am a former English major, reading specialist, Reading Recovery teacher, classroom teacher and always a lover of books. The hardest part of moving to Denver was giving away most of my books. AAUW received a van full of them (over 25 boxes), my great-niece received several boxes, and a daughter of a colleague who worked with my husband received many more. It helped to have a good home for them, as our new home only had room for a few bookcases. (I had an entire wall of bookshelves built into my study/guest room in Wisconsin!) Thank you for all you do to promote reading, good books and to further literacy. Keep up the great work! I will be sending a donation to support your cause soon.”

Dorothy wrote this about a contest that her book group won on ReadingGroupGuides.com: “Thank you for the audio version of A GOOD NEIGHBORHOOD. As a book club, we enjoyed listening to the book and having our discussion. The review will be posted on Goodreads and Barnes & Noble.”

Marilyn wrote about winning a recent Word of Mouth contest: “Thanks for the great books: THE QUEEN'S FORTUNE by Allison Pataki and THE GIRL WITH THE LOUDING VOICE by Abi Daré. I will read Allison’'s first as I have previously read and enjoyed THE TRAITOR’S WIFE. Thank you for sharing these great books with me.”

Katherine Johnson Dies at 101: Katherine Johnson, whose calculations enabled Apollo 11 to land on the moon, passed away this week at the age of 101. Her story was told in the book HIDDEN FIGURES and the film on which it was based.

"To Kill a Mockingbird" at Madison Square Garden: I loved seeing this piece about this show being offered to New York City students in a large venue so many could experience it!

Jackie, who I have known since my days at Mademoiselle, shared this Lent idea on Facebook: "Once again I’m doing the 40 bags in 40 days challenge for Lent. I’m excited! I’ve done this for the last four years and have been waiting to get started. Try it!” Great idea, right? Better than giving up chocolate!

"The Pharmacist": This is an excellent four-part documentary on Netflix that looks at one man’s quest to take down the business of opioid abuse after his son was killed. His sheer tenacity is something to behold!

"The Outsider": I am loving this series on HBO.

Book Quotes from the Most Popular Book in Every State: William Kent Krueger shared this piece; his book ORDINARY GRACE is quoted as the most popular book in Minnesota. See what the most popular is in your state. And its quote.

Bread Making: Last weekend, I made a pumpkin/sunflower/flaxseed bread. And if you are wondering how to make it, here’s the recipe!

We have a quiet weekend on tap! I still have some more reading to do for my Tucson event --- which will include ACTRESS as I will be interviewing the author, Anne Enright, there --- and I hope to start organizing questions for my five panels. If you are going to be at the Tucson Festival of Books, shoot me a note. I would love to see our readers at the Festival! I am in town from Thursday the 12th until the crack of dawn on the 16th.

On Monday night, I am going to be at the Audies Gala, where the audiobook awards will be presented. I am looking forward to this! On Thursday night at 7pm, I will be at the Baldwin Public Library on Long Island for a presentation of Great Books for Spring Reading. I hope to see some Long Island readers there.

Read on, and have a great week.

Carol Fitzgerald (Carol@bookreporter.com)

P.S. For those of you who are doing online shopping, if you use the store links below, Bookreporter.com gets a small affiliate fee on your purchases. We would appreciate your considering this!

Featured Review: THE SPLENDID AND THE VILE
by Erik Larson

THE SPLENDID AND THE VILE: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz by Erik Larson (History)
Audiobook available, read by John Lee
On Winston Churchill’s first day as prime minister, Adolf Hitler invaded Holland and Belgium. Poland and Czechoslovakia had already fallen, and the Dunkirk evacuation was just two weeks away. For the next 12 months, Hitler would wage a relentless bombing campaign, killing 45,000 Britons. It was up to Churchill to hold his country together and persuade President Franklin Roosevelt that Britain was a worthy ally --- and willing to fight to the end. In THE SPLENDID AND THE VILE, Erik Larson shows, in cinematic detail, how Churchill taught the British people “the art of being fearless." Reviewed by Stuart Shiffman.

- Click here to read more about the book.
- Click here to read an excerpt.

Click here to read our review.

Featured Review:
THE WARSAW PROTOCOL by Steve Berry

THE WARSAW PROTOCOL by Steve Berry (Thriller)
Audiobook available, read by Scott Brick
One by one, the seven precious relics of the Arma Christi, the weapons of Christ, are disappearing from sanctuaries across the world. After Cotton Malone witnesses the theft of one of them, he learns from his old boss, Stephanie Nelle, that a private auction is about to be held where incriminating information on the president of Poland will be offered to the highest bidder. The price of admission to that auction is one of the relics, so Malone is first sent to a castle in Poland to steal the Holy Lance, a thousand-year-old spear sacred not only to Christians but to the Polish people, and then on to the auction itself. But nothing goes as planned, and Malone is thrust into a bloody battle among three nations over information that, if exposed, could change the balance of power in Europe. Reviewed by Ray Palen.

- Click here to read more about the book.
- Click here to read an excerpt.

Click here to read our review.

Featured Review: BLINDSIDE
by James Patterson and James O. Born

BLINDSIDE: A Detective Michael Bennett Thriller by James Patterson and James O. Born (Thriller)
Audiobook available, read by Danny Mastrogiorgio
The mayor of New York has a daughter who's missing and in danger. Detective Michael Bennett has a son who's in prison. The two strike a deal. Bennett and the mayor have always had a tense relationship, but now the mayor sees in Bennett a discreet investigator with family worries of his own. Just one father helping another. The detective leaps into the case, and sources lead him to a homicide in the Bronx. The victim has ties to a sophisticated hacking operation --- and also to the mayor's missing daughter, Natalie, a 21-year-old computer prodigy. The murder is part of a serial killing spree, one with national security implications. And suddenly Bennett is at the center of a dangerous triangle anchored by the NYPD, the FBI and a transnational criminal organization. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.

- Click here to read more about the book.

Click here to read our review.

Bookreporter.com Bets On: SAINT X by Alexis Schaitkin

SAINT X by Alexis Schaitkin (Psychological Thriller)
SAINT X by debut novelist Alexis Schaitkin opens on a holiday trip in the Caribbean, where a wealthy New York family is vacationing. Their daughters are as close as two sisters can be when one is 18 and the other is seven. The older daughter, Alison, heads out many nights to party with the locals, drinking and dancing in various clubs. Then one night, she does not come home. A hunt for her ensues, and all signs point to her last being seen with two of the hotel workers that night at a local club. But later, the timing is found not to jive with when she went missing. Her body is discovered, but what happened is still a mystery.

Flash forward a couple of decades, and the younger sister, Claire (who is now calling herself Emily), is in a taxi in New York City. When she glances at the taxi driver's license, she reads Clive Richardson and recognizes that name and his photo --- he’s one of the two men who was with her sister that night. She stalks him and then befriends him, with a goal to find out just what happened on Saint X. Claire wants to know the sister who vanished. Who was she really? There was such an age gap between them, and the mystery behind Alison --- not just her disappearance, but who she was --- haunts her. She searches for who can help her get to know the various parts of Alison’s world.

- Click here to read more about the book.
- Click here to read our review
- Click here to read an excerpt.
- Click here for the discussion guide.
- Click here to watch Carol's "Bookreporter Talks To" interview with Alexis Schaitkin.
- Click here to listen to a podcast of the interview.

Click here to read more of Carol's commentary.

Bookreporter.com Bets On:
THE OTHER MRS. by Mary Kubica

THE OTHER MRS. by Mary Kubica (Psychological Thriller)
I was in the mood for a great thriller, and THE OTHER MRS. by Mary Kubica did not disappoint! It’s set in a small town in Maine where Sadie and Will Foust have relocated from Chicago. Soon after they move in, their neighbor, Morgan Baines, is found dead. What happened to her? From there, the story whips you in one direction and then another, and at no point did I see the ending coming. Actually, there was a lot that I did not see coming.

The multiple layers and the surprising twists throughout throttled it ahead to be something even more complex than I first thought it was; the action is so ramped up. It’s hard to share more without giving too much away, and I want readers to have the pleasure of discovery with it that I had. It is so, so well done --- and remember to breathe as you read it; that’s how brisk it is. Huge bravo to Mary!

- Click here to read more about the book.
- Click here to read our review.
- Click here for the discussion guide.

Click here for more books we're betting you'll love.

Featured Review: TROUBLE IS WHAT I DO
by Walter Mosley

TROUBLE IS WHAT I DO by Walter Mosley (Mystery)
Audiobook available, read by Dion Graham
Leonid McGill has spent a lifetime building up his reputation in the New York investigative scene. His seemingly infallible instinct and inside knowledge of the crime world make him the ideal man to help when Phillip Worry comes knocking. Phillip "Catfish" Worry is a 92-year-old Mississippi bluesman who needs Leonid's help with a simple task: deliver a letter revealing the black lineage of a wealthy heiress and her corrupt father. But when a famed and feared assassin puts a hit on Catfish, Leonid has no choice but to confront the ghost of his own felonious past. Working to protect his client and his own family, Leonid must reach the heiress on the eve of her wedding before her powerful father kills those who hold their family's secret. Reviewed by Roz Shea.

- Click here to read more about the book.

Click here to read our review.

Featured Review: A COLD TRAIL by Robert Dugoni

A COLD TRAIL by Robert Dugoni (Mystery/Thriller)
Audiobook available, read by Emily Sutton-Smith
The last time homicide detective Tracy Crosswhite was in Cedar Grove, it was to see her sister’s killer put behind bars. Now she’s returned for a respite and the chance to put her life back in order for herself, her attorney husband, Dan, and their new daughter. But tragic memories soon prove impossible to escape. Dan is drawn into representing a local merchant whose business is jeopardized by the town’s revitalization. And Tracy is urged by the local PD to put her own skills to work on a new case: the brutal murder of a police officer’s wife and local reporter who was investigating a cold-case slaying of a young woman. As Tracy’s and Dan’s cases crisscross, Tracy’s trail becomes dangerous. Reviewed by Rebecca Munro.

- Click here to read more about the book.

Click here to read our review.

Featured Review: THE BIG LIE by James Grippando

THE BIG LIE: A Jack Swyteck Novel by James Grippando (Legal Thriller)
Audiobook available, read by Jonathan Davis
For the sixth time in American history, the winner of the popular vote will not occupy the Oval Office. President Malcolm MacLeod appears to have secured a second term, thanks to a narrow victory in the Electoral College. His opponent, Florida Senator Evan Stahl, saw his campaign rocked by allegations of an extramarital affair --- with another man. But Stahl is refusing to concede. Gun lobbyist Charlotte Holmes is one of Florida’s 29 electors who is bound by law and by oath to cast her vote for MacLeod. When she announces that she intends to vote her conscience and throw the Electoral College to Stahl, the president and his Florida machine haul her into court on felony charges. Miami attorney Jack Swyteck is going to use every legal maneuver he can to keep his new client free --- and alive. Reviewed by Ray Palen.

- Click here to read more about the book.

Click here to read our review.

 "Bookreporter Talks To" Videos & Podcasts

In late August, we launched “Bookreporter Talks To,” a video and podcast series where we deliver a long-form, in-depth author interview every week. For years, I have moderated book festivals and author events around the country. But we know that readers often do not live where they can attend an author event. Our goal --- to bring these author interviews to readers, wherever they may be. Watch on video, or listen as a podcast. (The podcasts include audio excerpts.)

By the way, this follows a long history of The Book Report Network delivering compelling programming to readers. Back in 1997, the company hosted the first online interview with John Grisham, which started a tradition of ongoing interviews with authors.

Authors interviewed to date include:

• Linwood Barclay (ELEVATOR PITCH) Video | Podcast
• Patti Callahan (BECOMING MRS. LEWIS) Video | Podcast
• Fiona Davis (THE CHELSEA GIRLS) Video | Podcast
• Nelson DeMille and Alex DeMille (THE DESERTER) Video | Podcast
• Sally Hepworth (THE MOTHER-IN-LAW) Video | Podcast
• Marjan Kamali (THE STATIONERY SHOP) Video | Podcast
• Mary Beth Keane (ASK AGAIN, YES) Video | Podcast
• Raymond Khoury (EMPIRE OF LIES) Video | Podcast
• Jesse Kornbluth (JFK AND MARY MEYER: A Love Story) Video | Podcast
• William Kent Krueger (THIS TENDER LAND) Video | Podcast
• Jean Kwok (SEARCHING FOR SYLVIE LEE) Video | Podcast
• Shari Lapena (SOMEONE WE KNOW) Video | Podcast
• Gilly Macmillan (THE NANNY) Video | Podcast
• Liz Moore (LONG BRIGHT RIVER) Video | Podcast
• Heather Morris (THE TATTOOIST OF AUSCHWITZ; CILKA'S JOURNEY) Video | Podcast
• Allison Pataki (THE QUEEN'S FORTUNE: A Novel of Desiree, Napoleon, and the Dynasty That Outlasted the Empire) Video | Podcast
• Luanne Rice (LAST DAY) Podcast NEW!
• Alexis Schaitkin (SAINT X) Video | Podcast
• Whitney Scharer (THE AGE OF LIGHT) Video | Podcast
• Cara Wall (THE DEARLY BELOVED) Video | Podcast
• Sheila Weller (CARRIE FISHER: A Life on the Edge) Video | Podcast
• Karen White (THE CHRISTMAS SPIRITS ON TRADD STREET; ALL THE WAYS WE SAID GOODBYE) Video | Podcast
• Beatriz Williams (THE GOLDEN HOUR; THE WICKED REDHEAD; ALL THE WAYS WE SAID GOODBYE) Video | Podcast

Upcoming interviews include:

• Marie Benedict (LADY CLEMENTINE)
• Therese Anne Fowler (A GOOD NEIGHBORHOOD)
• Lisa See (THE ISLAND OF SEA WOMEN)
• Amanda Eyre Ward (THE JETSETTERS)

Watch our "Bookreporter Talks To" interviews and listen to our podcasts.

More Reviews This Week

OONA OUT OF ORDER by Margarita Montimore (Fiction)
Audiobook available, read by Brittany Pressley
It’s New Year’s Eve 1982, and Oona Lockhart has her whole life before her. At the stroke of midnight she will turn 19, and the year ahead promises to be one of consequence. Should she go to London to study economics, or remain at home in Brooklyn to pursue her passion for music and be with her boyfriend? As the countdown to the New Year begins, Oona faints and awakens 32 years in the future in her 51-year-old body. Greeted by a friendly stranger in a beautiful house she’s told is her own, Oona learns that with each passing year she will leap to another age at random. Hopping through decades, pop culture fads and much-needed stock tips, Oona is still a young woman on the inside but ever changing on the outside. Reviewed by Norah Piehl.

THE SUN DOWN MOTEL by Simone St. James (Supernatural Thriller)
Audiobook available, read by Brittany Pressley and Kirsten Potter
Upstate New York, 1982. Viv Delaney wants to move to New York City. To help pay for it, she takes a job as the night clerk at the Sun Down Motel in Fell, New York. But something isnʼt right at the motel, something haunting and scary. Upstate New York, 2017. Carly Kirk has never been able to let go of the story of her aunt Viv, who mysteriously disappeared from the Sun Down before she was born. She decides to move to Fell and visit the motel, where she quickly learns that nothing has changed since 1982. And she soon finds herself ensnared in the same mysteries that claimed her aunt. Reviewed by Kate Ayers.

THE CHILL by Scott Carson (Supernatural Thriller)
Audiobook available, read by John Bedford Lloyd
Far upstate, in New York’s ancient forests, a drowned village lays beneath the dark, still waters of the Chilewaukee reservoir. Early in the 20th century, the town was destroyed for the greater good: bringing water to the millions living downstate. Or at least that’s what the politicians from Manhattan insisted at the time. The local families, settled there since America’s founding, were forced from their land, but they didn’t move far…and some didn’t move at all. Now, a century later, an inspector assigned to oversee the dam witnesses something inexplicable. It turns out that more than the village was left behind in the waters of the Chill when it was abandoned. The townspeople didn’t evacuate without a fight. A dark prophecy remained, too, and the time has come for it to be fulfilled. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.

THE GIRL IN WHITE GLOVES: A Novel of Grace Kelly by Kerri Maher (Historical Fiction)
Audiobook available, read by Kimberly Farr
Grace knows what people see. She’s the Cinderella story. An icon of glamour and elegance frozen in dazzling Technicolor. The picture of perfection. The girl in white gloves. But behind the lens, beyond the panoramic views of glistening Mediterranean azure, she knows the truth. The sacrifices it takes for an unappreciated girl from Philadelphia to defy her family and become the reigning queen of the screen. The heartbreaking reasons she trades Hollywood for a crown. The loneliness of being a princess in a fairy tale kingdom that is all too real. Hardest of all for her adoring fans and loyal subjects to comprehend is the harsh reality that to be the most envied woman in the world does not mean she is the happiest. Reviewed by Cindy Burnett.

NO BAD DEED by Heather Chavez (Domestic Thriller)
Audiobook available, read by Megan Tusing
Driving home one rainy night, Cassie Larkin sees a man and woman fighting on the side of the road. Against all reason and advice, she gets out of her minivan and chases after the violent man, trying to help his victim. When Cassie physically tries to stop him, he suddenly turns on her and spits out an ominous threat: “Let her die, and I’ll let you live.” A veterinarian trained to heal, Cassie can’t let the woman die. But while she’s examining the unconscious victim, the attacker steals her car. Now he has her name and address, and knows about her children. The next day --- Halloween --- her husband disappears while trick-or-treating with their six-year-old daughter. Are these disturbing events a coincidence or the beginning of a horrifying nightmare? Reviewed by Pamela Kramer.

THE OTHER PEOPLE by C. J. Tudor (Thriller)
Audiobook available, read by Richard Armitage and Ellie Kendrick
Driving home one night, Gabe is stuck behind a rusty old car. He sees a little girl’s face appear in its rear window. It’s his five-year-old daughter, Izzy. He never sees her again. Three years later, Gabe spends his days and nights traveling up and down the highway, searching for the car that took his daughter. When that same vehicle is found abandoned with a body inside, Gabe must confront not just the day Izzy disappeared but the painful events from his past now dredged to the surface. Fran and her daughter, Alice, are trying to keep one step ahead of the people who want to hurt them --- because Fran knows what really happened to Gabe’s daughter. She knows who is responsible. And she knows what they will do if they ever catch up to her and Alice. Reviewed by Ray Palen.

THE LOST FUTURE OF PEPPERHARROW by Natasha Pulley (Historical Fantasy/Mystery)
Audiobook available, read by Thomas Judd
1888. Five years after they met, Thaniel Steepleton, an unassuming translator, and Keita Mori, the watchmaker who remembers the future, are traveling to Japan. Thaniel has received an unexpected posting to the British legation in Tokyo, and Mori has business that is taking him to Yokohama. Thaniel's brief is odd: the legation staff have been seeing ghosts, and Thaniel's first task is to find out what's really going on. But while staying with Mori, he starts to experience ghostly happenings himself. For reasons Mori won't --- or can't --- share, he is frightened. Then he vanishes. Meanwhile, something strange is happening in a frozen labor camp in Northern Japan. Takiko Pepperharrow, an old friend of Mori's, must investigate. Reviewed by Amy Gwiazdowski.

Next Week’s Notables:
Noteworthy Books Releasing on March 3rd

Below are some notable titles releasing on March 3rd that we would like to make you aware of. We will have more on many of these books in the weeks to come. For a list of additional hardcovers and paperbacks available the week of March 2nd, see our “On Sale This Week” newsletter here.

ACTRESS by Anne Enright (Fiction)
ACTRESS is a brilliant and moving novel about celebrity, sexual power and a daughter’s search to understand her mother’s hidden truths.

THE BACK ROADS TO MARCH: The Unsung, Unheralded, and Unknown Heroes of a College Basketball Season by John Feinstein (Sports)
Thirty years after changing the sports book landscape with his mega-hit, A SEASON ON THE BRINK, John Feinstein returns to his first love --- college basketball --- with a fascinating and compelling journey through a landscape of unsung, unpublicized and often unknown heroes of Division-1 college hoops.

EIGHT PERFECT MURDERS by Peter Swanson (Psychological Thriller)
From the hugely talented author of BEFORE SHE KNEW HIM comes a chilling tale of psychological suspense and a homage to the thriller genre tailor-made for fans: the story of a bookseller who finds himself at the center of an FBI investigation because a very clever killer has started using his list of fiction’s most ingenious murders.

THE JETSETTERS by Amanda Eyre Ward (Fiction)
Can four lost adults find the peace they’ve been seeking by reconciling their childhood aches and coming back together? In the vein of THE NEST and THE VACATIONERS, THE JETSETTERS is a delicious and intelligent novel about the courage it takes to reveal our true selves, the pleasures and perils of family, and how we navigate the seas of adulthood.

LONG RANGE: A Joe Pickett Novel by C. J. Box (Mystery/Thriller)
Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett must investigate an attempted murder --- a crime committed from a confoundingly long distance --- in this riveting new novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author C. J. Box.

THE NIGHT WATCHMAN by Louise Erdrich (Historical Fiction)
Based on the extraordinary life of National Book Award-winning author Louise Erdrich’s  grandfather, who worked as a night watchman and carried the fight against Native dispossession from rural North Dakota all the way to Washington, D.C., this powerful novel explores themes of love and death with lightness and gravity and unfolds with the elegant prose, sly humor and depth of feeling of a master craftsman.

THE NUMBERS GAME by Danielle Steel (Fiction)
In Danielle Steel’s stunning novel, modern relationships come together, fall apart and are reinvented over time, proving that age is just a number.

THE SEA OF LOST GIRLS by Carol Goodman (Psychological Thriller)
In the tradition of Daphne du Maurier, Shari Lapena and Michelle Richmond comes a new thriller from the bestselling author of THE LAKE OF DEAD LANGUAGES --- a twisty, harrowing story set at a prestigious prep school in which one woman’s carefully hidden past might destroy her future.

THESE GHOSTS ARE FAMILY by Maisy Card (Fiction)
In the tradition of Yaa Gyasi’s HOMEGOING, this transporting debut novel reveals the ways in which a Jamaican family forms and fractures over generations.

TRACE ELEMENTS: A Commissario Guido Brunetti Mystery by Donna Leon (Mystery)
A woman’s cryptic dying words in a Venetian hospice lead Guido Brunetti to uncover a threat to the entire region in Donna Leon’s haunting 29th novel in the series.

VICTIM 2117: A Department Q Novel by Jussi Adler-Olsen (Mystery/Thriller)
In the heart-pounding next installment of the New York Times and #1 internationally bestselling Department Q series, a terrifying international investigation reveals the complex backstory of one of the department's own --- the enigmatic Assad.

WRITERS & LOVERS by Lily King (Fiction)
WRITERS & LOVERS follows Casey --- a smart and achingly vulnerable protagonist --- in the last days of a long youth, a time when every element of her life comes to a crisis.

YOU ARE NOT ALONE by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen (Psychological Thriller)
Shay Miller wants to find love, but it eludes her. She wants to be fulfilled, but her job is a dead end. She wants to belong, but her life is increasingly lonely. Until Shay meets the Moore sisters. Cassandra and Jane live a life of glamorous perfection, and always get what they desire. When they invite Shay into their circle, everything seems to get better. Shay would die for them to like her. She may have to.

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