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Week of June 2, 2025

Paperback releases for the week of June 2nd include SOUTHERN MANthe epic seventh installment in Greg Iles' Penn Cage series, which centers on a man --- and a town --- rocked by anarchy and tragedy, but unbowed in the fight to save those they love; SUMMERS AT THE SAINT by Mary Kay Andrews, a beach read with depth and heart that revolves around the St. Cecelia, a landmark hotel on the coast of Georgia, where traditions run deep and scandals run even deeper; LARRY McMURTRY, Tracy Daugherty's sweeping and insightful biography of the late Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist and screenwriter; Shelley Read's GO AS A RIVER, the heartbreaking coming-of-age story of a resilient young woman whose life is changed forever by one chance encounter; and BAD TOURISTS by Caro Carver, a white-hot thriller in which three tight-knit friends embark on an extravagant divorce trip to the Maldives --- until they realize that the resort of their dreams is harboring a killer.

June 3, 2025

In this newsletter, you will find books releasing the weeks of June 2nd and June 9th 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 review of THE MARTHA'S VINEYARD BEACH AND BOOK CLUB. In Martha Hall Kelly's latest novel, which is inspired by true events, two sisters living on Martha’s Vineyard during World War II find hope in the power of storytelling when they start a wartime book club for women.

June 3, 2025

This Bookreporter.com Special Newsletter spotlights a book that we think is a great summer reading selection. Read more about it, and enter our Summer Reading Contest by Wednesday, June 4th at noon ET for a chance to win one of five copies of THE GHOSTWRITER by Julie Clark, which is now available and will be a Bookreporter.com Bets On pick. Please note that each contest is only open for 24 hours, so you will need to act quickly!

June 2025

June's Books on Screen roundup includes the series premieres of Prime Video's "We Were Liars" and Netflix's "The Survivors"; the season premieres of "Grantchester" on PBS "Masterpiece" and "The Buccaneers" on Apple TV+; the season finale of "The Walking Dead: Dead City" on AMC; the continuation of Hulu's "Nine Perfect Strangers" and Max's "And Just Like That..."; the films The Life of Chuck and How to Train Your Dragon in theaters and Pie to Die For: A Hannah Swensen Mystery on Hallmark Mystery; and the DVD/Blu-ray releases of Snow White, The Friend and The Monkey.

Beatriz Williams Book Group Event

Kevin Wilson, author of Run for the Hills

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.

Mary Alice Monroe, author of Where the Rivers Merge

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.

Dean Koontz, author of Going Home in the Dark

As kids, outcasts Rebecca, Bobby, Spencer and Ernie were inseparable friends in the idyllic town of Maple Grove. Three left to pursue lofty dreams --- and achieved them. Only Ernie never left. When he falls into a coma, his three amigos feel an urgent need to return home. After two decades, not a lot has changed in Maple Grove, especially Ernie’s obnoxious, scary mother. But they begin to remember a hulking, murderous figure and weirdness piled on mystery that they were made to forget. As Ernie sinks deeper into darkness, something strange awaits any friend who tries to save him. For Rebecca, Bobby and Spencer, time is running out to remember the terrors of the past in a perfect town where nothing is what it seems.

Martha Hall Kelly, author of The Martha's Vineyard Beach and Book Club

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.

Stephen King, author of Never Flinch

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.