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May 29, 2015

The end of May marks the most anticipated publishing event of the year --- BookExpo America (BEA) at the well-air conditioned, but insanely difficult to get to, Javits Center. Publishers, authors, literary agents, booksellers, librarians and internet gurus (like us) from all over the country, and the world, come together to preview books of the upcoming season. While one can walk around, view thousands of upcoming titles, collect author-signed books and, yes, eat some free candy here and there, there are also a variety of panels featuring authors and industry people...including our very own Carol Fitzgerald. Wearing her iconic turquoise (ter-kwaz, as Anjelica Huston would say), Carol talked with six Buzz Authors whose upcoming books were dubbed "Buzz Books of the Show." The authors were Julie Checkoway, Garth Risk Hallberg, Dan Marshall, Otessa Moshfegh, Damon Tweedy and Ruth Ware. The TBRN #squad enthusiastically cheered her on from the peanut gallery.

Editorial Content for Dietland

Book

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Sarah Rachel Egelman

Plum Kettle's life is one of routine and monotony. After checking in daily at Waist Watchers for her weigh-in, she heads to the cafe where she spends most of the day working. She comes home to her empty Brooklyn apartment to cook Waist Watchers meals for herself. Every day she wears black baggy clothes to hide the body she hates. Plum dreams of becoming Alicia, her thin self hiding under the fat she has struggled with all her life. Read More

Teaser

Plum Kettle does her best not to be noticed --- because when you’re fat, to be noticed is to be judged, mocked, or worse. With her job answering fan mail for a popular teen girls’ magazine, she is biding her time until her weight-loss surgery. Then, when a mysterious woman starts following her, Plum finds herself falling down a rabbit hole and into an underground community of women who live life on their own terms. There Plum agrees to a series of challenges that force her to deal with her past, her doubts, and the real costs of becoming “beautiful.”

Promo

Plum Kettle does her best not to be noticed --- because when you’re fat, to be noticed is to be judged, mocked, or worse. With her job answering fan mail for a popular teen girls’ magazine, she is biding her time until her weight-loss surgery. Then, when a mysterious woman starts following her, Plum finds herself falling down a rabbit hole and into an underground community of women who live life on their own terms. There Plum agrees to a series of challenges that force her to deal with her past, her doubts, and the real costs of becoming “beautiful.”

About the Book

SOON TO BE AN AMC ORIGINAL SERIES
FROM EXECUTIVE PRODUCER MARTI NOXON, 
STARRING JOY NASH AND JULIANNA MARGULIES

Plum Kettle does her best not to be noticed, because when you’re fat, to be noticed is to be judged. With her job answering fan mail for a teen magazine, she is biding her time until her weight-loss surgery. But when a mysterious woman in colorful tights and combat boots begins following her, Plum falls down a rabbit hole into the world of Calliope House --- an underground community of women who reject society’s rules --- and is forced to confront the real costs of becoming “beautiful.” At the same time, a guerrilla group begins terrorizing a world that mistreats women, and Plum becomes entangled in a sinister plot. The consequences are explosive.

“A giddy revenge fantasy that will shake up your thinking and burrow under your skin” (Entertainment Weekly), DIETLAND takes on gender inequality, the beauty industry, and our weight-loss obsession --- with fists flying.

Editorial Content for Uprooted

Book

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Kathy Weissman

The folklore of Eastern Europe lurks somewhere in my ancestral past. A childhood book of Slavic fairy tales featured the witch Baba Yaga, who lived in the forest in a hut standing on stilts in the shape of chicken legs. And I inherited my grandmother’s antique silver creamer and sugar bowl, each balanced on three finely crafted --- what else? --- chicken legs. Read More

Teaser

Agnieszka loves her valley home, her quiet village, the forests and the bright shining river. But the corrupted Wood stands on the border, full of malevolent power. Her people rely on the cold, driven wizard known only as the Dragon to keep its powers at bay. But he demands a terrible price for his help: one young woman handed over to serve him for 10 years. Agnieszka is afraid that the Dragon will take Kasia, her dearest friend in the world. But when the Dragon comes, it is not Kasia he will choose.

Promo

Agnieszka loves her valley home, her quiet village, the forests and the bright shining river. But the corrupted Wood stands on the border, full of malevolent power. Her people rely on the cold, driven wizard known only as the Dragon to keep its powers at bay. But he demands a terrible price for his help: one young woman handed over to serve him for 10 years. Agnieszka is afraid that the Dragon will take Kasia, her dearest friend in the world. But when the Dragon comes, it is not Kasia he will choose.

About the Book

Agnieszka loves her valley home, her quiet village, the forests and the bright shining river. But the corrupted Wood stands on the border, full of malevolent power, and its shadow lies over her life.
 
Her people rely on the cold, driven wizard known only as the Dragon to keep its powers at bay. But he demands a terrible price for his help: one young woman handed over to serve him for 10 years, a fate almost as terrible as falling to the Wood.
 
The next choosing is fast approaching, and Agnieszka is afraid. She knows --- everyone knows --- that the Dragon will take Kasia: beautiful, graceful, brave Kasia, all the things Agnieszka isn’t, and her dearest friend in the world. And there is no way to save her.
 
But Agnieszka fears the wrong things. For when the Dragon comes, it is not Kasia he will choose.

Editorial Content for Independence Day: A Dewey Andreas Novel

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Joe Hartlaub

I would ask those of you who selectively delete books that are over a certain page count --- say, 300 --- to break tradition for INDEPENDENCE DAY. Like its namesake holiday, it is explosive from beginning to end and one of those rare titles that is so much fun that you wish it would never end.  Read More

Teaser

Dewey Andreas, former Delta and newly recruited intelligence agent, is sidelined after screwing up his last two operations. A high-level Russian hacker, known only as Cloud, is believed to be routing large amounts of money to various Al Qaeda terror cells, and the mission is to capture and render harmless Cloud. At the same time, a back-up team is sent after the only known associate of Cloud, a ballerina believed to be his girlfriend. Unwilling to sit out the mission as ordered, Dewey defies his superiors, surreptitiously following and tracking the two teams.

Promo

Dewey Andreas, former Delta and newly recruited intelligence agent, is sidelined after screwing up his last two operations. A high-level Russian hacker, known only as Cloud, is believed to be routing large amounts of money to various Al Qaeda terror cells, and the mission is to capture and render harmless Cloud. At the same time, a back-up team is sent after the only known associate of Cloud, a ballerina believed to be his girlfriend. Unwilling to sit out the mission as ordered, Dewey defies his superiors, surreptitiously following and tracking the two teams.

About the Book

Cloud, the code name a high-level Russian hacker, has acquired a nuclear weapon. It’s an older bomb from the USSR’s Cold War arsenal with the power to devastate a major city. Fueled by a dark and personal vendetta, Cloud has put it onto an anonymous trawler, piloted by jihadists, headed straight to America.

Dewey Andreas, a former Delta working as an agent for the CIA, is still grieving the murder of his fiancée. He’s lost his focus, his edge --- and the confidence of his superiors. But when an overseas mission to capture Cloud goes awry, Dewey becomes America’s last hope of putting a stop to the bomb. Now it’s up to Dewey to put his past behind him and risk everything to find one of the world’s most elusive enemies…or witness a terrorist attack timed to coincide with the country’s biggest holiday: Independence Day.

Editorial Content for Trauma

Book

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Ray Palen

It’s difficult to review TRAUMA without discussing the backstory behind its creation. Most readers are aware that bestselling author Michael Palmer passed away suddenly in 2013. He had amassed dozens of terrific novels, most of them in the medical thriller genre, and his untimely passing left a gaping hole. Read More

Teaser

After quitting her residency following two operations gone terribly wrong, Dr. Carrie Bryant learns about an experimental program exploring the use of Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) that could forever cure the emotional and memory trauma of PTSD. Her first surgery appears to be a success until her patient mysteriously vanishes. When a second patient also goes missing, Carrie employs the investigative skills of reporter David Hoffman, and together they descend into a labyrinth of murder and corruption.

Promo

After quitting her residency following two operations gone terribly wrong, Dr. Carrie Bryant learns about an experimental program exploring the use of Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) that could forever cure the emotional and memory trauma of PTSD. Her first surgery appears to be a success until her patient mysteriously vanishes. When a second patient also goes missing, Carrie employs the investigative skills of reporter David Hoffman, and together they descend into a labyrinth of murder and corruption.

About the Book

Dr. Carrie Bryant is a much-admired neurosurgical resident at an esteemed Boston hospital. When the relentless pace of her residency leads to a life-shattering error, Carrie loses her confidence --- and decides to quit her residency and move back home. Her new life’s purpose: To help her combat-vet brother, Adam, recover from a crippling case of post-traumatic stress disorder.

The experimental program at the VA Medical Center promises the possibility of curing the ravages of PTSD forever. It seems like Adam’s best option, but Carrie has her doubts when one of her patients goes missing…and then another. Carrie joins local investigative reporter David Hoffman in the hunt for answers. The hospital, however, is determined to keep its secrets at all costs. As Carrie and David descend into a labyrinth of murder and corruption, the price Carrie could pay for asking the wrong questions is her own life…

Editorial Content for Constant Fear

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Joe Hartlaub

Here’s a blurb for you: With CONSTANT FEAR, Daniel Palmer becomes solidly ensconced in the firmament of the thriller genre. That pretty much says it all. Palmer, who came out of the gate seemingly incapable of writing badly, hits and exceeds his own high water mark with his latest book, which has everything one could want in a thriller: explosives, gunfire, action, danger and, at the heart of it all, a nagging mystery. Read More

Teaser

When Jake Dent’s dreams of baseball glory fell apart, his marriage did too. A popular survivalist blog ended up helping to restore his sense of control, and he raised his diabetic son, Andy, to be ready for any sudden catastrophe. Now a student at a prestigious academy where Jake works as a custodian, Andy has a secret --- he’s part of a computer club that redistributes money from the obscenely wealthy to the needy. But this time, they’ve stolen from the wrong people: a vicious drug cartel that is coming to get its money back.

Promo

When Jake Dent’s dreams of baseball glory fell apart, his marriage did too. A popular survivalist blog ended up helping to restore his sense of control, and he raised his diabetic son, Andy, to be ready for any sudden catastrophe. Now a student at a prestigious academy where Jake works as a custodian, Andy has a secret --- he’s part of a computer club that redistributes money from the obscenely wealthy to the needy. But this time, they’ve stolen from the wrong people: a vicious drug cartel that is coming to get its money back.

About the Book

In Daniel Palmer’s electrifying, brilliantly plotted new thriller, a private school campus becomes a battleground as a desperate father takes on a terrifying enemy….

When Jake Dent’s dreams of baseball glory fell apart in a drunk-driving incident, his marriage did too. In those dark days, a popular survivalist blog helped to restore Jake’s sense of control. He’s become an avid Doomsday Prepper, raising his diabetic son, Andy, to be ready for any sudden catastrophe.

Andy, now a student at the prestigious Pepperell Academy where Jake works as a custodian, has a secret --- he’s part of a computer club that redistributes money from the obscenely wealthy to the needy. Usually, their targets don’t even realize they’ve been hacked. But this time, they’ve stolen from the wrong people: a vicious drug cartel that is coming to get its money back…

Staging a chemical truck spill as a distraction, the cartel infiltrates the Academy, taking Andy and his friends hostage one by one. Jake, hidden inside the school’s abandoned tunnels, knows that soon the killing will start. With his training and a stockpile of weapons and supplies, he’s the last, best hope these students --- including his son --- have of getting out alive. But survival is no longer an abstract concept. It’s a violent, brutal struggle that will test Jake to the limit, where there are no rules and no second chances…

Editorial Content for The Wonder Garden

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Norah Piehl

Have you ever driven through a particularly tidy suburb --- one where all the landscaping is perfect, all the facades and shutters painted neighborhood association-approved shades of beige and gray --- but no one seems to be outside those picture-perfect houses? Have you ever wondered who lives there and if their lives are as immaculate as their homes? Read More

Teaser

A man strikes an under-the-table deal with a surgeon to spend a few quiet seconds closer to his wife than he's ever been; a young soon-to-be mother looks on in paralyzing astonishment as her husband walks away from a 20-year career in advertising at the urging of his spirit animal; an elderly artist risks more than he knows when he's commissioned by his newly arrived neighbors to produce the work of a lifetime. In her debut collection, Lauren Acampora brings to the page the myriad lives of a suburban town and lays them bare.

Promo

A man strikes an under-the-table deal with a surgeon to spend a few quiet seconds closer to his wife than he's ever been; a young soon-to-be mother looks on in paralyzing astonishment as her husband walks away from a 20-year career in advertising at the urging of his spirit animal; an elderly artist risks more than he knows when he's commissioned by his newly arrived neighbors to produce the work of a lifetime. In her debut collection, Lauren Acampora brings to the page the myriad lives of a suburban town and lays them bare.

About the Book

Launched by four starred prepubs and a full-page New York Times book review, THE WONDER GARDEN marks Lauren Acampora’s rarely seen, sensational entrance into the literary world. With enchanting realism, these linked stories bring to the page the myriad lives of a suburban town, and reveal at each turn the unseen battles we play out behind drawn blinds, the creeping truths from which we distract ourselves, and the massive dreams we haul quietly with us and hold close. Deliciously creepy and masterfully complex THE WONDER GARDEN heralds the arrival of a phenomenal new talent in American fiction.

Editorial Content for Joan of Arc: A History

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Pauline Finch

In our supposedly sophisticated 21st century, the exploitation and mistreatment of child soldiers evokes instant outrage. Yet few who readily voice opinions on the immorality of sending minors into battle seem to realize that this is not solely a phenomenon of modern conflict. Read More

Teaser

Helen Castor tells afresh the gripping story of the peasant girl from Domremy who hears voices from God, leads the French army to victory, is burned at the stake for heresy, and eventually becomes a saint. But unlike the traditional narrative, a story already shaped by the knowledge of what Joan would become and told in hindsight, Castor’s book takes us back to 15th-century France and tells the story forwards. Instead of an icon, she gives us a living, breathing woman confronting the challenges of faith and doubt.

Promo

Helen Castor tells afresh the gripping story of the peasant girl from Domremy who hears voices from God, leads the French army to victory, is burned at the stake for heresy, and eventually becomes a saint. But unlike the traditional narrative, a story already shaped by the knowledge of what Joan would become and told in hindsight, Castor’s book takes us back to 15th-century France and tells the story forwards. Instead of an icon, she gives us a living, breathing woman confronting the challenges of faith and doubt.

About the Book

From the author of the acclaimed SHE-WOLVES, the complex, surprising and engaging story of one of the most remarkable women of the medieval world --- as never told before.

Helen Castor tells afresh the gripping story of the peasant girl from Domremy who hears voices from God, leads the French army to victory, is burned at the stake for heresy, and eventually becomes a saint. But unlike the traditional narrative, a story already shaped by the knowledge of what Joan would become and told in hindsight, Castor’s JOAN OF ARC takes us back to 15th-century France and tells the story forwards. Instead of an icon, she gives us a living, breathing woman confronting the challenges of faith and doubt, a roaring girl who, in fighting the English, was also taking sides in a bloody civil war. We meet this extraordinary girl amid the tumultuous events of her extraordinary world where no one --- not Joan herself, nor the people around her --- princes, bishops, soldiers or peasants --- knew what would happen next.

Adding complexity, depth and fresh insight into Joan’s life, and placing her actions in the context of the larger political and religious conflicts of fifteenth century France, JOAN OF ARC is history at its finest and a surprising new portrait of this remarkable woman.

Editorial Content for The Ice Twins

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Norah Piehl

I've always wanted to visit the Hebrides. Or, should I say, I always used to want to visit the Hebrides. After reading THE ICE TWINS by S. K. Tremayne (a pseudonym for a bestselling British novelist), I am beginning to have second thoughts about wanting to go to this beautiful but remote island cluster off the western coast of Scotland. Tremayne's novel acknowledges the place's beauty, but he also places that beauty in the context of violence, fear, and overwhelming grief and guilt. Read More

Teaser

A year after one of their identical twin daughters, Lydia, dies in an accident, Angus and Sarah Moorcroft move to the tiny Scottish island Angus inherited from his grandmother, hoping to put together the pieces of their shattered lives. But when their surviving daughter, Kirstie, claims they have mistaken her identity --- that she, in fact, is Lydia --- their world comes crashing down once again.

Promo

A year after one of their identical twin daughters, Lydia, dies in an accident, Angus and Sarah Moorcroft move to the tiny Scottish island Angus inherited from his grandmother, hoping to put together the pieces of their shattered lives. But when their surviving daughter, Kirstie, claims they have mistaken her identity --- that she, in fact, is Lydia --- their world comes crashing down once again.

About the Book

In the tradition of THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN comes the UK bestseller THE ICE TWINS, a terrifying psychological thriller with a twisting plot worthy of Gillian Flynn.

One of Sarah's daughters died. But can she be sure which one?

A year after one of their identical twin daughters, Lydia, dies in an accident, Angus and Sarah Moorcroft move to the tiny Scottish island Angus inherited from his grandmother, hoping to put together the pieces of their shattered lives.

But when their surviving daughter, Kirstie, claims they have mistaken her identity --- that she, in fact, is Lydia --- their world comes crashing down once again.

As winter encroaches, Angus is forced to travel away from the island for work, Sarah is feeling isolated, and Kirstie (or is it Lydia?) is growing more disturbed. When a violent storm leaves Sarah and her daughter stranded, they are forced to confront what really happened on that fateful day.

Editorial Content for England and Other Stories

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Harvey Freedenberg

In a productive literary career that has earned him one Booker Prize (LAST ORDERS) and a spot on the Booker shortlist for another (WATERLAND), short stories have been noticeably absent from the output of English writer Graham Swift. His first collection, LEARNING TO SWIM, was published in 1982, and so it has taken him more than three decades to assemble the 25 previously unpublished stories that appear in ENGLAND AND OTHER STORIES. The good news is that the wait has been worth it. Read More

Teaser

Graham Swift presents a vision of a country, England, that is both a crucible of history and a maze of contemporary confusions. Moving from the 17th century to the present day, from world-shaking events to domestic dramas and frequently mixing tragedy with comedy, ENGLAND AND OTHER STORIES is bound together by an underlying instinct for the story of us all: an evocation of that mysterious thing, a nation, enriched by a clear-eyed compassion for how human individuals find or lose their way in the nationless territory of birth, growing up, sex, aging and death.

Promo

Graham Swift presents a vision of a country, England, that is both a crucible of history and a maze of contemporary confusions. Moving from the 17th century to the present day, from world-shaking events to domestic dramas and frequently mixing tragedy with comedy, ENGLAND AND OTHER STORIES is bound together by an underlying instinct for the story of us all: an evocation of that mysterious thing, a nation, enriched by a clear-eyed compassion for how human individuals find or lose their way in the nationless territory of birth, growing up, sex, aging and death.

About the Book

In these beautifully crafted stories, Graham Swift --- author of the Booker Prize-winning LAST ORDERS --- presents a vision of a country, England, that is both a crucible of history and a maze of contemporary confusions. Moving from the 17th century to the present day, from world-shaking events to domestic dramas and frequently mixing tragedy with comedy, ENGLAND AND OTHER STORIES is bound together by an underlying instinct for the story of us all: an evocation of that mysterious thing, a nation, enriched by a clear-eyed compassion for how human individuals find or lose their way in the nationless territory of birth, growing up, sex, aging and death.