April 7, 2017
Around our house this weekend, everything will revolve around Tom watching The Masters. One must whisper when you say those two words --- The Masters --- with proper golf reverence. Tom watches nonstop. I peek in, watch the end and make Pimento Cheese Sandwiches. This year, I am making the recipe in Mary Kay Andrews’ THE BEACH HOUSE COOKBOOK, which is coming on May 2nd. Her recipe was tested with Duke’s mayo, but we NYC metro area folks will have to make do with good old Hellmann’s. I fell in love with pimento cheese on one of our Outer Banks trips --- to me, the best part of The Masters. I know, irreverent.
Editorial Content for Prince Charles: The Passions and Paradoxes of an Improbable Life
Contributors
Reviewer (text)
Prince Charles has lived at the edge of history his entire life. He was born to be king. Much has been written about him: his privileged but lonely childhood, his schooling and military service, his polo playing, his ill-fated marriage to Diana, his connection to Camilla, and his tendency to speak his mind. Yet Charles remains an enigma. And he waits as his mother the Queen, who turns 91 this month, is still firmly on the throne. Read More
Teaser
Sally Bedell Smith returns once again to the British royal family to give us a new look at Prince Charles, the oldest heir to the throne in more than 300 years. This biography --- the product of four years of research and hundreds of interviews with palace officials, former girlfriends, spiritual gurus and more, some speaking on the record for the first time --- is the first authoritative treatment of Charles’ life that sheds light on the death of Diana, his marriage to Camilla, and his preparations to take the throne one day. PRINCE CHARLES brings to life the real man, with all of his ambitions, insecurities and convictions.
Promo
Sally Bedell Smith returns once again to the British royal family to give us a new look at Prince Charles, the oldest heir to the throne in more than 300 years. This biography --- the product of four years of research and hundreds of interviews with palace officials, former girlfriends, spiritual gurus and more, some speaking on the record for the first time --- is the first authoritative treatment of Charles’ life that sheds light on the death of Diana, his marriage to Camilla, and his preparations to take the throne one day. PRINCE CHARLES brings to life the real man, with all of his ambitions, insecurities and convictions.
About the Book
The life and loves of Prince Charles are illuminated in a major new biography from the New York Times bestselling author of ELIZABETH THE QUEEN --- perfect for fans of "The Crown."
Sally Bedell Smith returns once again to the British royal family to give us a new look at Prince Charles, the oldest heir to the throne in more than 300 years. This vivid, eye-opening biography --- the product of four years of research and hundreds of interviews with palace officials, former girlfriends, spiritual gurus and more, some speaking on the record for the first time --- is the first authoritative treatment of Charles’s life that sheds light on the death of Diana, his marriage to Camilla, and his preparations to take the throne one day.
PRINCE CHARLES brings to life the real man, with all of his ambitions, insecurities and convictions. It begins with his lonely childhood, in which he struggled to live up to his father’s expectations and sought companionship from the Queen Mother and his great-uncle Lord Mountbatten. It follows him through difficult years at school, his early love affairs, his intellectual quests, his entrepreneurial pursuits, and his intense search for spiritual meaning. It tells of the tragedy of his marriage to Diana; his eventual reunion with his true love, Camilla; and his relationships with William, Kate, Harry and his grandchildren.
Ranging from his glamorous palaces to his country homes, from his globe-trotting travels to his local initiatives, Smith shows how Prince Charles possesses a fiercely independent spirit and yet has spent more than six decades waiting for his destined role, living a life dictated by protocols he often struggles to obey. With keen insight and the discovery of unexpected new details, Smith lays bare the contradictions of a man who is more complicated, tragic and compelling than we knew, until now.
Audiobook available, read by Rosalyn Landor
Editorial Content for New York 2140
Book
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Reviewer (text)
Coming to grips with the sheer imaginative immensity of Kim Stanley Robinson’s futurist novel, NEW YORK 2140 prompted a brief journey to my past --- to New York circa 1959. Read More
Teaser
As the sea levels rose, every street became a canal and every skyscraper an island. For the residents of one apartment building in Madison Square, however, New York in the year 2140 is far from a drowned city. There is the market trader, the detective, the beloved internet star and the building's manager. There also are two boys who don't live there, but have no other home --- and who are more important to its future than anyone might imagine. Lastly there are the coders, temporary residents on the roof, whose disappearance triggers a sequence of events that threatens the existence of all --- and even the long-hidden foundations on which the city rests.
Promo
As the sea levels rose, every street became a canal and every skyscraper an island. For the residents of one apartment building in Madison Square, however, New York in the year 2140 is far from a drowned city. There is the market trader, the detective, the beloved internet star and the building's manager. There also are two boys who don't live there, but have no other home --- and who are more important to its future than anyone might imagine. Lastly there are the coders, temporary residents on the roof, whose disappearance triggers a sequence of events that threatens the existence of all --- and even the long-hidden foundations on which the city rests.
About the Book
New York Times bestselling author Kim Stanley Robinson returns with a bold and brilliant vision of New York City in the next century.
As the sea levels rose, every street became a canal. Every skyscraper an island. For the residents of one apartment building in Madison Square, however, New York in the year 2140 is far from a drowned city.
There is the market trader, who finds opportunities where others find trouble. There is the detective, whose work will never disappear --- along with the lawyers, of course.
There is the internet star, beloved by millions for her airship adventures, and the building's manager, quietly respected for his attention to detail. Then there are two boys who don't live there, but have no other home --- and who are more important to its future than anyone might imagine.
Lastly there are the coders, temporary residents on the roof, whose disappearance triggers a sequence of events that threatens the existence of all --- and even the long-hidden foundations on which the city rests.
NEW YORK 2140 is an extraordinary and unforgettable novel, from a writer uniquely qualified to the story of its future.
Audiobook available; read by Jay Snyder, Robin Miles, Peter Ganim, Suzanne Toren, Ryan Vincent Anderson, Christopher Ryan Grant, Caitlin Kelly, Michael Crouch and Robert Blumenfeld
Editorial Content for The Forbidden Garden
Book
Contributors
Reviewer (text)
The epigraph of THE FORBIDDEN GARDEN, Ellen Herrick’s second novel, is a succinct harbinger of Sorrel Sparrow’s story as she travels to England: Hiraeth: a homesickness for a home to which you cannot return, a home which maybe never was. Sorrel has been commissioned to rebuild a Shakespearean garden behind the yew hedges and the crumbing brick wall that was part of Lord Kirkwood’s estate. The one-time enchanted grounds had been waiting for many years for a resurrection. And Sorrel has come to resurrect. Read More
Teaser
At the nursery she runs with her sisters on the New England coast, Sorrel Sparrow has honed her rare gift for nurturing plants and flowers. Now that reputation, and a stroke of good timing, lands Sorrel an unexpected opportunity: reviving a long-dormant Shakespearean garden on an English country estate. Arriving at Kirkwood Hall, ancestral home of Sir Graham Kirkwood and his wife, Stella, Sorrel is shocked by the desolate state of the walled garden. Intrigued by the house’s history and increasingly drawn to Stella’s enigmatic brother, Sorrel sets to work. And though she knows her true home is across the sea with her sisters, instinct tells her that the English garden’s destiny is entwined with her own, if only she can unravel its secrets.
Promo
At the nursery she runs with her sisters on the New England coast, Sorrel Sparrow has honed her rare gift for nurturing plants and flowers. Now that reputation, and a stroke of good timing, lands Sorrel an unexpected opportunity: reviving a long-dormant Shakespearean garden on an English country estate. Arriving at Kirkwood Hall, ancestral home of Sir Graham Kirkwood and his wife, Stella, Sorrel is shocked by the desolate state of the walled garden. Intrigued by the house’s history and increasingly drawn to Stella’s enigmatic brother, Sorrel sets to work. And though she knows her true home is across the sea with her sisters, instinct tells her that the English garden’s destiny is entwined with her own, if only she can unravel its secrets.
About the Book
At the nursery she runs with her sisters on the New England coast, Sorrel Sparrow has honed her rare gift for nurturing plants and flowers. Now that reputation, and a stroke of good timing, lands Sorrel an unexpected opportunity: reviving a long-dormant Shakespearean garden on an English country estate.
Arriving at Kirkwood Hall, ancestral home of Sir Graham Kirkwood and his wife Stella, Sorrel is shocked by the desolate state of the walled garden. Generations have tried --- and failed --- to bring it back to glory. Sorrel senses heartbreak and betrayal here, perhaps even enchantment. Intrigued by the house’s history --- especially the haunting tapestries that grace its walls --- and increasingly drawn to Stella’s enigmatic brother, Sorrel sets to work. And though she knows her true home is across the sea with her sisters, instinct tells her that the English garden’s destiny is entwined with her own, if she can only unravel its secrets.
Audiobook available, performed by Fiona Hardingham
Editorial Content for Ragdoll
Book
Reviewer (text)
- Click here to read L. Dean Murphy's review.
Review #1 by Joe Hartlaub Read More
Teaser
William Fawkes, a controversial detective known as The Wolf, has just been reinstated to his post after he was suspended for assaulting a vindicated suspect. Still under psychological evaluation, Fawkes returns to the force eager for a big case. When his former partner and friend, Detective Emily Baxter, calls him to a crime scene, he’s sure this is it: the body is made of the dismembered parts of six victims, sewn together like a puppet --- a corpse that becomes known as “The Ragdoll.” Fawkes is tasked with identifying the six victims, but that gets dicey when his reporter ex-wife anonymously receives photographs from the crime scene, along with a list of six names, and the dates on which the Ragdoll Killer plans to murder them. The final name on the list is Fawkes.
Promo
William Fawkes, a controversial detective known as The Wolf, has just been reinstated to his post after he was suspended for assaulting a vindicated suspect. Still under psychological evaluation, Fawkes returns to the force eager for a big case. When his former partner and friend, Detective Emily Baxter, calls him to a crime scene, he’s sure this is it: the body is made of the dismembered parts of six victims, sewn together like a puppet --- a corpse that becomes known as “The Ragdoll.” Fawkes is tasked with identifying the six victims, but that gets dicey when his reporter ex-wife anonymously receives photographs from the crime scene, along with a list of six names, and the dates on which the Ragdoll Killer plans to murder them. The final name on the list is Fawkes.
About the Book
William Fawkes, a controversial detective known as The Wolf, has just been reinstated to his post after he was suspended for assaulting a vindicated suspect. Still under psychological evaluation, Fawkes returns to the force eager for a big case. When his former partner and friend, Detective Emily Baxter, calls him to a crime scene, he’s sure this is it: the body is made of the dismembered parts of six victims, sewn together like a puppet --- a corpse that becomes known as “The Ragdoll.”
Fawkes is tasked with identifying the six victims, but that gets dicey when his reporter ex-wife anonymously receives photographs from the crime scene, along with a list of six names, and the dates on which the Ragdoll Killer plans to murder them.
The final name on the list is Fawkes.
Baxter and her trainee partner, Alex Edmunds, hone in on figuring out what links the victims together before the killer strikes again. But for Fawkes, seeing his name on the list sparks a dark memory, and he fears that the catalyst for these killings has more to do with him --- and his past ---than anyone realizes.
With a breakneck pace, a twisty plot and a wicked sense of humor, RAGDOLL announces the arrival of the hottest new brand in crime.
Audiobook available, performed by
Editorial Content for City of Light, City of Poison: Murder, Magic, and the First Police Chief of Paris
Contributors
Reviewer (text)
Paris in the late 1600s was a far different place from the city of today. The streets looked nothing like they do now. When it rained, they were bogs of mud and blood, filth and garbage, with no sidewalks. Travel on foot was precarious at best, made even more dangerous by heavy traffic. Along with the muck underfoot, there lurked the constant danger from overhead of a tenant chucking his chamber pot contents out the window. Or, just as unpleasant, coming across a drunken townsman relieving himself against the side of a building. Parisians of the day were loud, brash and lawless. Read More
Teaser
Appointed to conquer the “crime capital of the world,” the first police chief of Paris faces an epidemic of murder in the late 1600s. Assigned by Louis XIV, Nicolas de La Reynie begins by clearing the streets of filth and installing lanterns throughout Paris, turning it into the City of Light. The fearless La Reynie pursues criminals through the labyrinthine neighborhoods of the city. He unearths a tightly knit cabal of poisoners, witches and renegade priests. As La Reynie continues his investigations, he is haunted by a single question: Could Louis’ mistresses be involved in such nefarious plots? The pragmatic and principled La Reynie must decide just how far he will go to protect his king.
Promo
Appointed to conquer the “crime capital of the world,” the first police chief of Paris faces an epidemic of murder in the late 1600s. Assigned by Louis XIV, Nicolas de La Reynie begins by clearing the streets of filth and installing lanterns throughout Paris, turning it into the City of Light. The fearless La Reynie pursues criminals through the labyrinthine neighborhoods of the city. He unearths a tightly knit cabal of poisoners, witches and renegade priests. As La Reynie continues his investigations, he is haunted by a single question: Could Louis’ mistresses be involved in such nefarious plots? The pragmatic and principled La Reynie must decide just how far he will go to protect his king.
About the Book
Appointed to conquer the “crime capital of the world,” the first police chief of Paris faces an epidemic of murder in the late 1600s. Assigned by Louis XIV, Nicolas de La Reynie begins by clearing the streets of filth and installing lanterns throughout Paris, turning it into the City of Light.
The fearless La Reynie pursues criminals through the labyrinthine neighborhoods of the city. He unearths a tightly knit cabal of poisoners, witches and renegade priests. As he exposes their unholy work, he soon learns that no one is safe from black magic --- not even the Sun King. In a world where a royal glance can turn success into disgrace, the distance between the quietly back-stabbing world of the king’s court and the criminal underground proves disturbingly short. Nobles settle scores by employing witches to craft poisons and by hiring priests to perform dark rituals in Paris’s most illustrious churches and cathedrals.
As La Reynie continues his investigations, he is haunted by a single question: Could Louis’s mistresses could be involved in such nefarious plots? The pragmatic and principled La Reynie must decide just how far he will go to protect his king.
From secret courtrooms to torture chambers, CITY OF LIGHT, CITY OF POISON is a gripping true-crime tale of deception and murder. Based on thousands of pages of court transcripts and La Reynie’s compulsive note-taking, as well as on letters and diaries, Tucker’s riveting narrative makes the fascinating, real-life characters breathe on the page.
Audiobook available, read by Kate Reading
Editorial Content for The Drowning King: A Fall of Egypt Novel
Contributors
Reviewer (text)
In CLEOPATRA’S SHADOWS, author Emily Holleman recreated the fall of ancient Egypt and the life of its final queen, Cleopatra VII, through the eyes of Cleopatra’s sister, Arsinoe. Arsinoe carved out a unique niche for herself as a slightly immature but engaging and prophetic princess in the first Fall of Egypt novel. But it’s in this second book that she comes into her own as a woman and embraces her royal heritage --- and all the deadly consequences that has to offer. Read More
Teaser
It's the dawn of a new era for Egypt as Cleopatra and her brother, Ptolemy, are welcomed to the throne after their father's death. Long overlooked by his father in favor of the beguiling Cleopatra, Ptolemy is determined to prove his ability as both man and king --- but, at 11, he is no match for his elder sister, who's quick to assert her primacy throughout the land. Their sister Arsinoe is torn between her siblings in one of history's greatest power struggles. When Cleopatra is forced to flee a rebel uprising, Arsinoe decides she has no choice but to follow her sister into exile. Yet while Cleopatra gathers an army to retake the crown, Arsinoe begins to doubt whether her sister is the champion Egypt needs.
Promo
It's the dawn of a new era for Egypt as Cleopatra and her brother, Ptolemy, are welcomed to the throne after their father's death. Long overlooked by his father in favor of the beguiling Cleopatra, Ptolemy is determined to prove his ability as both man and king --- but, at 11, he is no match for his elder sister, who's quick to assert her primacy throughout the land. Their sister Arsinoe is torn between her siblings in one of history's greatest power struggles. When Cleopatra is forced to flee a rebel uprising, Arsinoe decides she has no choice but to follow her sister into exile. Yet while Cleopatra gathers an army to retake the crown, Arsinoe begins to doubt whether her sister is the champion Egypt needs.
About the Book
Ancient Egypt, 51 B.C. Sisters Arsinoe and Cleopatra face a devastating choice: to allow Rome's army to siphon power from their ailing father, or to take matters --- and the dynasty --- into their own hands.
It's the dawn of a new era for Egypt as Cleopatra and her brother, Ptolemy, are welcomed to the throne after their father's death. But joint rule breeds its own conflicts: can the Nile be shared? Long overlooked by his father in favor of the beguiling Cleopatra, Ptolemy is determined to prove his ability as both man and king --- but, at 11, he is no match for his elder sister, who's quick to assert her primacy throughout the land.
Their sister Arsinoe is torn between her siblings in one of history's greatest power struggles. As the palace echoes with rumors, scandals and betrayal, Arsinoe's love for her childhood friend Alexander deepens into a forbidden passion that could endanger both their lives. When Cleopatra is forced to flee a rebel uprising, Arsinoe decides she has no choice but to follow her sister into exile.
Yet while Cleopatra gathers an army to retake the crown, Arsinoe begins to doubt whether her sister is the champion Egypt needs. Faced with the choice of betraying her family or her country, Arsinoe will determine a kingdom's fate and the course of history.
Editorial Content for A Simple Favor
Book
Contributors
Reviewer (text)
You are going to be hearing a lot about A SIMPLE FAVOR. Debut author Darcey Bell manages to cram a lot of living, if you will, into a standard-length novel with some extremely contemporary, “right-now” elements and enough sordid episodes and surprises to fill a couple of books. Bell also infuses her story with a cinematic narrative, so it’s no surprise that the book was optioned for film development even before it was published. Read More
Teaser
When Emily asks Stephanie to pick up her son, Nicky, after school, she happily says yes. Nicky and Stephanie’s son, Miles, are classmates and best friends, and the five-year-olds love being together --- just like she and Emily. But Emily doesn’t come back. She doesn’t answer calls or return texts. Stephanie knows something is terribly wrong; Emily would never leave Nicky. Terrified, she reaches out to Emily’s husband, Sean, offering emotional support. Then, she and Sean receive shocking news. Emily is dead. The nightmare of her disappearance is over. Or is it? Because soon, Stephanie will begin to see that nothing --- not friendship, love, or even an ordinary favor --- is as simple as it seems.
Promo
When Emily asks Stephanie to pick up her son, Nicky, after school, she happily says yes. Nicky and Stephanie’s son, Miles, are classmates and best friends, and the five-year-olds love being together --- just like she and Emily. But Emily doesn’t come back. She doesn’t answer calls or return texts. Stephanie knows something is terribly wrong; Emily would never leave Nicky. Terrified, she reaches out to Emily’s husband, Sean, offering emotional support. Then, she and Sean receive shocking news. Emily is dead. The nightmare of her disappearance is over. Or is it? Because soon, Stephanie will begin to see that nothing --- not friendship, love, or even an ordinary favor --- is as simple as it seems.
About the Book
She’s your best friend.
She knows all your secrets.
That’s why she’s so dangerous.
A single mother's life is turned upside down when her best friend vanishes in this chilling debut thriller in the vein of GONE GIRL and THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN.
It starts with a simple favor --- an ordinary kindness mothers do for one another. When her best friend, Emily, asks Stephanie to pick up her son Nicky after school, she happily says yes. Nicky and her son, Miles, are classmates and best friends, and the five-year-olds love being together --- just like she and Emily. A widow and stay-at-home mommy blogger living in woodsy suburban Connecticut, Stephanie was lonely until she met Emily, a sophisticated PR executive whose job in Manhattan demands so much of her time.
But Emily doesn’t come back. She doesn’t answer calls or return texts. Stephanie knows something is terribly wrong --- Emily would never leave Nicky, no matter what the police say. Terrified, she reaches out to her blog readers for help. She also reaches out to Emily’s husband, the handsome, reticent Sean, offering emotional support. It’s the least she can do for her best friend. Then, she and Sean receive shocking news. Emily is dead. The nightmare of her disappearance is over.
Or is it? Because soon, Stephanie will begin to see that nothing --- not friendship, love, or even an ordinary favor --- is as simple as it seems.
A SIMPLE FAVOR is a remarkable tale of psychological suspense --- a clever and twisting free-fall of a ride filled with betrayals and reversals, twists and turns, secrets and revelations, love and loyalty, murder and revenge. Darcey Bell masterfully ratchets up the tension in a taut, unsettling and completely absorbing story that holds you in its grip until the final page.






