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Editorial Content for On Fire Island

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Lorraine W. Shanley

Julia Morse, the narrator of this elegiac novel, has just died. But before she can move on, she needs to make sure that her husband, Ben, is going to be okay without her. So when he goes to their Fire Island house for the summer, she (or her not-quite-palpable spirit) follows.

"Jane L. Rosen...makes her characters and the setting feel both familiar and worthy of the reader’s time."

Teaser

As a book editor, Julia Morse lived and breathed stories. Whether with her pen to a manuscript or curled up with a book while at her beloved Fire Island cottage, her imagination alight with a good tale, she could anticipate practically any ending. The ending she’d never imagined was her own. To be fair, no one expects to die at 37. So when the unthinkable happens to Julia, rather than following the light at the end of the proverbial tunnel, she chooses to spend one last summer near those she loves most. As she follows her adoring, novelist husband Ben to their --- unexpectedly full --- home on Fire Island, she discovers the ripple effect her life has had on the trajectory of so many.

Promo

As a book editor, Julia Morse lived and breathed stories. Whether with her pen to a manuscript or curled up with a book while at her beloved Fire Island cottage, her imagination alight with a good tale, she could anticipate practically any ending. The ending she’d never imagined was her own. To be fair, no one expects to die at 37. So when the unthinkable happens to Julia, rather than following the light at the end of the proverbial tunnel, she chooses to spend one last summer near those she loves most. As she follows her adoring, novelist husband Ben to their --- unexpectedly full --- home on Fire Island, she discovers the ripple effect her life has had on the trajectory of so many.

About the Book

A book editor spends one last summer on Fire Island in this sparkling and surprising new novel from the author of A SHOE STORY.

As a book editor, Julia Morse lived and breathed stories. Whether with her pen to a manuscript or curled up with a book while at her beloved Fire Island cottage, her imagination alight with a good tale, she could anticipate practically any ending. The ending she’d never imagined was her own.

To be fair, no one expects to die at 37. So when the unthinkable happens to Julia, rather than following the light at the end of the proverbial tunnel, she chooses to spend one last summer near those she loves most.  

As she follows her adoring, novelist husband Ben to their --- unexpectedly full --- home on Fire Island, she discovers the ripple affect her life has had on the trajectory of so many: her baseball loving, young-at-heart neighbor who believes it’s best not to go it alone, two bright-eyed teenagers eager to become adults, and her best friend who must shake off heartbreak for a new chance at love.

With poignant comedy and insight, ON FIRE ISLAND is an ode to the stories all around us and to the brightest types of loves...for the people closest to you and the places that shape you.

Audiobook available, read by Emily Lawrence

Editorial Content for Adrift

Book

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Ray Palen

ADRIFT, Lisa Brideau’s debut novel, is a terrific thriller with an amnesiac protagonist who is navigating a world similar to yet starkly different from our own and still picking up the pieces from a pandemic. Read More

Teaser

Ess wakes up alone on a sailboat in the remote Pacific Northwest with no memory of who she is or how she got there. She finds a note, but it's more warning than comfort: Start over. Don't make yourself known. Don't look back. Ess must have answers. She sails over a turbulent ocean to a town hundreds of miles away that she hopes might offer insight. The chilling clues she uncovers point to a desperate attempt at erasing her former life. But why? And someone is watching her…someone who knows she must never learn her truth. In Ess' world, the earth is precariously balanced at a climate tipping point, and she is perched at the edge of a choice. Which life does she want? The one taken from her --- and the dangerous secret that was buried --- or the new one she can make for herself?

Promo

Ess wakes up alone on a sailboat in the remote Pacific Northwest with no memory of who she is or how she got there. She finds a note, but it's more warning than comfort: Start over. Don't make yourself known. Don't look back. Ess must have answers. She sails over a turbulent ocean to a town hundreds of miles away that she hopes might offer insight. The chilling clues she uncovers point to a desperate attempt at erasing her former life. But why? And someone is watching her…someone who knows she must never learn her truth. In Ess' world, the earth is precariously balanced at a climate tipping point, and she is perched at the edge of a choice. Which life does she want? The one taken from her --- and the dangerous secret that was buried --- or the new one she can make for herself?

About the Book

For fans of THE LAST THING HE TOLD ME comes a page-turning thriller about hidden identities and the terrifying realities of climate change.

The truth won't always set you free...

Ess wakes up alone on a sailboat in the remote Pacific Northwest with no memory of who she is or how she got there. She finds a note, but it's more warning than comfort: Start over. Don't make yourself known. Don't look back. 

Ess must have answers. She sails over a turbulent ocean to a town hundreds of miles away that she hopes might offer insight. The chilling clues she uncovers point to a desperate attempt at erasing her former life. But why? And someone is watching her…someone who knows she must never learn her truth. 

In Ess' world, the earth is precariously balanced at a climate tipping point, and she is perched at the edge of a choice. Which life does she want? The one taken from her --- and the dangerous secret that was buried --- or the new one she can make for herself?

A galvanizing riddle that is just as unmooring as it seems, this sharp character-driven odyssey explores a future challenged by our quickly changing world and the choices we must make to save what matters most.

Editorial Content for Gumshoe on the Run: A Mortimer Angel Mystery

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

L. Dean Murphy

“Oh, boy. I’ve heard this is not good --- girls coming into bars with you here, Mort, especially ones that look like models.” Read More

Teaser

Mortimer Angel, still a private eye in training, answers a strange, ominous invitation and ends up on the run with a gorgeous girl, Ella Kassel. Chased by unknown killers and wanted by the FBI, Mort and Ella must thread an investigative needle to determine who the real enemy is while they try to discover who murdered the deputy director of the FBI. In disguise and off the grid, Mort ends up in the deadliest situation of his career.

Promo

Mortimer Angel, still a private eye in training, answers a strange, ominous invitation and ends up on the run with a gorgeous girl, Ella Kassel. Chased by unknown killers and wanted by the FBI, Mort and Ella must thread an investigative needle to determine who the real enemy is while they try to discover who murdered the deputy director of the FBI. In disguise and off the grid, Mort ends up in the deadliest situation of his career.

About the Book

Mortimer Angel, still a private eye in training, answers a strange, ominous invitation and ends up on the run with a gorgeous girl, Ella Kassel. Chased by unknown killers and wanted by the FBI, Mort and Ella must thread an investigative needle to determine who the real enemy is while they try to discover who murdered the deputy director of the FBI. In disguise and off the grid, Mort ends up in the deadliest situation of his career.

May 26, 2023

The peony buds have burst into flowers. I have never seen them as lush as this year. I think the mild winter may have something to do with it. And they are not shedding their petals as quickly as they usually do. I have been cutting some and arranging them around the house. They look like delicate snowballs.

I am crazy about the plants that the boys gave me for Mother’s Day. Greg gave me the pink and white dahlia, and I dashed out to get one to match it. Cory’s gift was a pentas plant, and it too has pink flowers. Last year, I planted some seeds; at the end of the summer, there were some green stems growing, but they did not have any buds on them. I left it outside, they wintered over, and it’s Sweet William flowers. Who knew? I also bought two clematis plants, and I am trying to figure out where I want to plant them.

Do you listen to digital audiobooks?

May 26, 2023, 451 voters

May 26, 2023 - June 9, 2023

Here are reading recommendations with your comments and a rating of 1 to 5 stars for the contest period of May 26 - June 9.

The Homewreckers by Mary Kay Andrews

Hattie Kavanaugh went to work restoring homes for Kavanaugh & Son Restorations at 18, married the boss’s son at 20, and became a widow at 25. Now, she’s passionate about her work, but that’s the only passion in her life. “Never love something that can’t love you back” is advice her father-in-law gives her, but Hattie doesn’t follow it and falls head-over-heels for a money pit of a house. She’s determined to make it work, but disaster after disaster occurs, and Hattie’s dream might cost Kavanaugh & Son their livelihood. Hattie needs money, and fast.

Interview: Daniel Weizmann, author of The Last Songbird: A Pacific Coast Highway Mystery

May 25, 2023

THE LAST SONGBIRD is a gritty, fast-paced neo-noir that explores the consumptive nature of fame, celebrity and motherhood through the lens of a driver lost in the gig economy. In this interview conducted by Michael Barson, Senior Publicity Executive at Melville House, Daniel Weizmann talks about his inspiration for his debut mystery novel, which is the opening installment in his Pacific Coast Highway series, and what he learned during the writing process that will help him as he begins working on the second book. He also pays tribute to some of his favorite writers from the classic age of LA mystery fiction and reveals which musical artists from the past he would like to incorporate into a future story.

The 2023 International Booker Prize

The winner of the 2023 International Booker Prize is TIME SHELTER by Georgi Gospodinov, translated by Angela Rodel. This is the first novel originally published in Bulgarian to win the prize. In the book, a "clinic for the past" offers a promising treatment for Alzheimer’s sufferers: each floor reproduces a decade in minute detail, transporting patients back in time. But soon the past begins to invade the present.

Ronald K. Fried is a veteran TV producer; the author of three novels, most recently FRANK COSTELLO; and a frequent contributor to The Daily Beast. In this piece, which originally ran on HeadButler.com, Fried pays tribute to Martin Amis, who passed away on May 19th at the age of 73 following a battle with esophageal cancer. Amis wrote 15 novels, including INSIDE STORY; the memoir EXPERIENCE; two collections of stories; and seven nonfiction books.