August 23, 2022
In this newsletter, you will find books releasing the weeks of August 22nd, August 29th and September 5th 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 "What's Your Book Group Reading This Month?" contest on ReadingGroupGuides.com. Three book groups will win up to 12 copies of THE READING LIST by Sara Nisha Adams, which is now available in paperback. The deadline for your entries is Wednesday, September 14th at noon ET.
August 23, 2022
This Bookreporter.com Special Newsletter spotlights a book that we know people will be talking about this fall. Read more about it, and enter our Fall Preview Contest by Wednesday, August 24th at noon ET for a chance to win one of five copies of FOX CREEK by William Kent Krueger, which is now available. Please note that each contest is only open for 24 hours, so you will need to act quickly!
Special Preview: Bookreporter.com's Fall Preview 2022
This Bookreporter.com SPECIAL PREVIEW Newsletter brings you a sneak peek at some of the titles that are included in this year's Fall Preview feature.
Each title below will be featured in a contest where you will have a 24-hour window of opportunity to enter for your chance to win a copy of the book being featured that day. You will need to act quickly! Learn more about the feature here.
Each of these books is a great fall reading selection. We encourage you to scroll down and click on each image to read more about that book on our site. Please note that we will be adding more books to the feature shortly.
If you have friends who you think may be interested in these 24-hour contests, please forward this newsletter to them so they can sign up for it.
Our first contest kicks off on Tuesday, August 23rd at noon ET. Best of luck to you, and Happy Fall Reading!
August 19, 2022
Yesterday I said a sad goodbye to my first fan, my mom, who passed away at the age of 93. She had fallen a few weeks ago, and from there it was a really slippery slope. She was an elementary school teacher for more than 25 years, and from an early age she instilled in me a lifelong love of reading. Trips with her to the library and the bookmobile were a regular part of my growing up. She was a voracious reader, and through the last 26 years of The Book Report, one of my joys was when she would read a book that had been featured and share with me her thoughts about it in an email or a phone call. She belonged to a book group and loved suggesting books for her group to read based on my recommendations or our reviews, and then sharing her group’s reading list with me.
Editorial Content for The Last Housewife
Book
Contributors
Reviewer (text)
My introduction to Ashley Winstead was via her delightful political rom-com, FOOL ME ONCE, published earlier this year. I knew she also wrote psychological thrillers, but to say that I was not sufficiently prepared for her new one is an understatement. Her romantic comedy had a bit of a bite, but THE LAST HOUSEWIFE is dark, intense and, at times, downright disturbing. Read More
Teaser
While in college in upstate New York, Shay Evans and her best friends met a captivating man who seduced them with a web of lies about the way the world works. By senior year, Shay and her friend, Laurel, were the only ones who managed to escape. But when she hears the horrifying news of Laurel's death eight years later --- delivered by her favorite true-crime podcast crusader --- she begins to suspect that the past she thought she buried is still very much alive. Recruiting the help of the podcast host, Shay goes back to the place she vowed never to return to in search of answers. As she follows the threads of her friend's life, she's pulled into a dark, seductive world, where wealth and privilege shield brutal philosophies that feel all too familiar.
Promo
While in college in upstate New York, Shay Evans and her best friends met a captivating man who seduced them with a web of lies about the way the world works. By senior year, Shay and her friend, Laurel, were the only ones who managed to escape. But when she hears the horrifying news of Laurel's death eight years later --- delivered by her favorite true-crime podcast crusader --- she begins to suspect that the past she thought she buried is still very much alive. Recruiting the help of the podcast host, Shay goes back to the place she vowed never to return to in search of answers. As she follows the threads of her friend's life, she's pulled into a dark, seductive world, where wealth and privilege shield brutal philosophies that feel all too familiar.
About the Book
From the author of the acclaimed IN MY DREAMS I HOLD A KNIFE comes a pitch-black thriller about a woman determined to destroy a powerful cult and avenge the deaths of the women taken in by it, no matter the cost.
While in college in upstate New York, Shay Evans and her best friends met a captivating man who seduced them with a web of lies about the way the world works, bringing them under his thrall. By senior year, Shay and her friend Laurel were the only ones who managed to escape. Now, eight years later, Shay's built a new life in a tony Texas suburb. But when she hears the horrifying news of Laurel's death --- delivered, of all ways, by her favorite true-crime podcast crusader --- she begins to suspect that the past she thought she buried is still very much alive and the predators more dangerous than ever.
Recruiting the help of the podcast host, Shay goes back to the place she vowed never to return to in search of answers. As she follows the threads of her friend's life, she's pulled into a dark, seductive world, where wealth and privilege shield brutal philosophies that feel all too familiar. When Shay's obsession with uncovering the truth becomes so consuming she can no longer separate her desire for justice from darker desires newly reawakened, she must confront the depths of her own complicity and conditioning. But in a world built for men to rule it --- both inside the cult and outside of it --- is justice even possible, and if so, how far will Shay go to get it?
Audiobook available, read by Alexis Van Aiken
Editorial Content for The Lies I Told
Book
Contributors
Reviewer (text)
Somewhat in the vein of the 1990 film Ghost, THE LIES I TOLD would have us believe that “[t]he dead were always watching. And they did speak to us, though we rarely noticed.” Read More
Teaser
Twin sisters Marisa and Clare Stockton were 16 when Clare’s body was found in Virginia’s James River. No arrests were made. Fourteen years later, Marisa’s friends and dedicated career as a photographer help her to cope with the open wound of the past. But she still feels the hurt. A recent car crash has erased 10 days of Marisa’s memories --- a black hole leading up to the accident that’s left her disoriented. Every text and phone call from that crucial missing time has vanished, along with her phone. And there’s the growing fear that her near-fatal accident was no accident at all. As dreams of Clare and nightmares of the crash begin to converge, so do two disturbing puzzles 14 years apart.
Promo
Twin sisters Marisa and Clare Stockton were 16 when Clare’s body was found in Virginia’s James River. No arrests were made. Fourteen years later, Marisa’s friends and dedicated career as a photographer help her to cope with the open wound of the past. But she still feels the hurt. A recent car crash has erased 10 days of Marisa’s memories --- a black hole leading up to the accident that’s left her disoriented. Every text and phone call from that crucial missing time has vanished, along with her phone. And there’s the growing fear that her near-fatal accident was no accident at all. As dreams of Clare and nightmares of the crash begin to converge, so do two disturbing puzzles 14 years apart.
About the Book
For a woman obsessed and a killer in her shadow, remembering the past becomes a mind game in a novel of psychological suspense by New York Times bestselling author Mary Burton.
Twin sisters Marisa and Clare Stockton were 16 when Clare’s body was found in Virginia’s James River. No arrests were made. Fourteen years later, Marisa’s friends and dedicated career as a photographer help her to cope with the open wound of the past. But Marisa still feels the hurt --- and the unsolved murder isn’t the only thing haunting her.
A recent car crash has erased 10 days of Marisa’s memories --- a black hole leading up to the accident that’s left her disoriented. Every text and phone call from that crucial missing time has vanished, along with her phone. A photograph she took of the river has disappeared. A new neighbor Marisa believes she knows introduces himself as if he were a stranger. And there’s the growing fear that her near-fatal accident was no accident at all. As dreams of Clare and nightmares of the crash begin to converge, so do two disturbing puzzles 14 years apart.
Putting the pieces together could be fatal. As she struggles to remember everything, Marisa closes in on a killer --- without realizing that he’s already closed in on her.
Audiobook available; read by Emily Ellet, Josh Bloomberg, Sarah Beth Pfeifer, Arnell Powell, Amanda Stribling and Andrew Eiden
Editorial Content for The Housekeeper
Book
Contributors
Reviewer (text)
Jodi Bishop needs a break. She’s the breadwinner in her family; her mother, Audrey, has Parkinson’s disease; and her older sister, Tracy, is too flighty to count on. Her husband Harrison’s first novel was a success, but he’s having trouble finishing his second, and resents having to care for their two young children when realtor Jodi has to work weekends showing houses or spend time with her parents. Her cantankerous father, Vic, denies that he needs help caring for her mother, but he is 79 and their home is large. Read More
Teaser
Jodi Bishop is a top-notch real estate agent. Her husband, Harrison, is a middling writer who resents his wife’s success. Jodi’s father, Vic, is a very controlling man. His wife, Audrey, was herself no shrinking violet. But things changed when Audrey developed Parkinson’s 10 years ago, and now Jodi starts interviewing housekeepers to help care for her parents. She settles on Elyse Woodley, an energetic and attractive widow who seems perfect for the job. Jodi is pleased to have an ally, someone she can talk to and occasionally even confide in. Until Elyse shuts Jodi out. And Audrey’s condition worsens --- rapidly. Who is this woman suddenly wearing her mother’s jewelry? What is she after? And how far will she go to get it?
Promo
Jodi Bishop is a top-notch real estate agent. Her husband, Harrison, is a middling writer who resents his wife’s success. Jodi’s father, Vic, is a very controlling man. His wife, Audrey, was herself no shrinking violet. But things changed when Audrey developed Parkinson’s 10 years ago, and now Jodi starts interviewing housekeepers to help care for her parents. She settles on Elyse Woodley, an energetic and attractive widow who seems perfect for the job. Jodi is pleased to have an ally, someone she can talk to and occasionally even confide in. Until Elyse shuts Jodi out. And Audrey’s condition worsens --- rapidly. Who is this woman suddenly wearing her mother’s jewelry? What is she after? And how far will she go to get it?
About the Book
A woman hires a housekeeper to care for her aging parents --- only to watch as she takes over their lives in this riveting novel from the New York Times bestselling author Samantha M. Bailey calls “an ingenious master of domestic suspense.”
In the end, I have only myself to blame. I’m the one who let her in.
Jodi Bishop knows success. She’s the breadwinner, a top-notch real estate agent. Her husband, Harrison...not so much. Once, he had big dreams. But now, he’s a middling writer who resents his wife’s success.
Jodi’s father, Vic, now in his late 70s and retired, is a very controlling man. His wife, Audrey, was herself no shrinking violet. But things changed when Audrey developed Parkinson’s 10 years ago and Vic retired to devote himself to her care. But while still reasonably spry and rakishly handsome, Vic is worn down by his wife’s deteriorating condition.
Exhausted from trying to balance her career, her family and her parents’ needs, Jodi starts interviewing housekeepers to help care for Audrey and Vic. She settles on Elyse Woodley, an energetic and attractive widow in her early 60s, who seems perfect for the job. While Vic is initially resistant, he soon warms to Elyse’s sunny personality and engaging ways.
And Jodi is pleased to have an ally, someone she can talk to and occasionally even confide in. Until...
She shuts Jodi out. And Audrey’s condition worsens --- rapidly. Who is this woman suddenly wearing her mother’s jewelry? What is she after? And how far will she go to get it?
Audiobook available, read by Finlay Stevenson
Editorial Content for Love in the Time of Serial Killers
Contributors
Reviewer (text)
Phoebe Walsh is used to being alone. She hasn’t really had many close friends since her divorced parents’ custody agreement fell apart when she was a teenager. That’s when she stopped being very close with her younger brother, Conner, since he stayed with their dad full-time while she lived with their mom. Read More
Teaser
PhD candidate Phoebe Walsh has always been obsessed with true crime. She's even analyzing the genre in her dissertation --- if she can manage to finish writing it. It's hard to find the time while she spends the summer in Florida, cleaning out her childhood home, dealing with her obnoxiously good-natured younger brother, and grappling with the complicated feelings of mourning a father she hadn't had a relationship with for years. It doesn't help that she's low-key convinced that her new neighbor, Sam Dennings, is a serial killer. It's not long before Phoebe realizes that Sam might be something much scarier --- a genuinely nice guy who can pierce her armor to reach her vulnerable heart.
Promo
PhD candidate Phoebe Walsh has always been obsessed with true crime. She's even analyzing the genre in her dissertation --- if she can manage to finish writing it. It's hard to find the time while she spends the summer in Florida, cleaning out her childhood home, dealing with her obnoxiously good-natured younger brother, and grappling with the complicated feelings of mourning a father she hadn't had a relationship with for years. It doesn't help that she's low-key convinced that her new neighbor, Sam Dennings, is a serial killer. It's not long before Phoebe realizes that Sam might be something much scarier --- a genuinely nice guy who can pierce her armor to reach her vulnerable heart.
About the Book
Turns out that reading nothing but true crime isn't exactly conducive to modern dating --- and one woman is going to have to learn how to give love a chance when she's used to suspecting the worst.
PhD candidate Phoebe Walsh has always been obsessed with true crime. She's even analyzing the genre in her dissertation --- if she can manage to finish writing it. It's hard to find the time while she spends the summer in Florida, cleaning out her childhood home, dealing with her obnoxiously good-natured younger brother, and grappling with the complicated feelings of mourning a father she hadn't had a relationship with for years.
It doesn't help that she's low-key convinced that her new neighbor, Sam Dennings, is a serial killer (he may dress business casual by day, but at night he's clearly up to something). It's not long before Phoebe realizes that Sam might be something much scarier --- a genuinely nice guy who can pierce her armor to reach her vulnerable heart.
Audiobook available, read by Lee Daniels
Editorial Content for Do No Harm: A Lucas Page Novel
Contributors
Reviewer (text)
For years, Robert Pobi has been one of the most unheralded writers of thriller fiction working today. His most recent series featuring Lucas Page is one of the best in the business. The latest entry is DO NO HARM, which centers on a mystery surrounding doctors who are losing their lives in various ways. This hits close to home as Page’s wife, Erin, is a gifted plastic surgeon. Read More
Teaser
Severely wounded after being caught in an explosion, Lucas Page left the FBI behind and put his focus on rebuilding the rest of his life. But he is uniquely gifted in being able to recognize patterns that elude others, a skill that brings the FBI knocking at his door again and again. Page's wife, Erin, loses a friend --- a gifted plastic surgeon --- to suicide, and Page begins to realize how many people Erin knew who have died in the past year, in freak accidents and now suicide. Intrigued despite himself, he begins digging through obituaries and realizes that there's a pattern --- a bad one. These deaths don't make sense unless the doctors are being murdered, the target of a particularly clever killer.
Promo
Severely wounded after being caught in an explosion, Lucas Page left the FBI behind and put his focus on rebuilding the rest of his life. But he is uniquely gifted in being able to recognize patterns that elude others, a skill that brings the FBI knocking at his door again and again. Page's wife, Erin, loses a friend --- a gifted plastic surgeon --- to suicide, and Page begins to realize how many people Erin knew who have died in the past year, in freak accidents and now suicide. Intrigued despite himself, he begins digging through obituaries and realizes that there's a pattern --- a bad one. These deaths don't make sense unless the doctors are being murdered, the target of a particularly clever killer.
About the Book
In Robert Pobi's thriller, DO NO HARM, a series of suicides and accidental deaths in the medical community are actually well-disguised murders. Only Lucas Page can see the pattern and discern the truth that no one else believes.
Lucas Page is a polymath, astrophysicist, professor, husband, father of five adopted children, bestselling author, and ex-FBI agent --- emphasis on "ex." Severely wounded after being caught in an explosion, Page left the FBI behind and put his focus on the rebuilding the rest of his life. But Page is uniquely gifted in being able to recognize patterns that elude others, a skill that brings the FBI knocking at his door again and again.
Page's wife, Erin, loses a friend, a gifted plastic surgeon, to suicide, and Page begins to realize how many people Erin knew that have died in the past year, in freak accidents and now suicide. Intrigued despite himself, Page begins digging through obituaries and realizes that there's a pattern --- a bad one. These deaths don't make sense unless the doctors are being murdered, the target of a particularly clever killer. This time, the FBI wants as little to do with Page as he does with them, so he's left with only one option --- ignore it and go back to his normal life. But then, the pattern reveals that the next victim is likely to be...Erin herself.
Audiobook available, read by Will Damron
Editorial Content for Long Gone: A Detective Annalisa Vega Novel
Contributors
Reviewer (text)
Joanna Schaffhausen’s mysteries featuring detective Annalisa Vega has continued to provide solid looks into the dark crimes that consume the streets of the Chicago area. Most recently in the series, Annalisa had to make an incredibly difficult decision that involved the eventual turning over of her father to her own department for his role in a murder case. This move did not sit well with her family and caused a serious schism in her household. Read More
Teaser
Chicago detective Annalisa Vega shattered her life, personally and professionally, when she turned in her ex-cop father for his role in a murder. Her family can’t forgive her. Her fellow officers no longer trust her. So when detective Leo Hammond turns up dead in a bizarre murder, Annalisa thinks she has nothing to lose by investigating whatever secrets he hid behind the thin blue line. Annalisa quickly zeroes in on someone who had good reason to want Hammond dead: a wealthy, fast-talking car salesman who’d gotten away with murder once and wasn’t about to let Hammond take a second shot. Moe Bocks remains the number one suspect in his girlfriend’s brutal unsolved death, and now he has a new woman in his sights --- Annalisa’s best friend.
Promo
Chicago detective Annalisa Vega shattered her life, personally and professionally, when she turned in her ex-cop father for his role in a murder. Her family can’t forgive her. Her fellow officers no longer trust her. So when detective Leo Hammond turns up dead in a bizarre murder, Annalisa thinks she has nothing to lose by investigating whatever secrets he hid behind the thin blue line. Annalisa quickly zeroes in on someone who had good reason to want Hammond dead: a wealthy, fast-talking car salesman who’d gotten away with murder once and wasn’t about to let Hammond take a second shot. Moe Bocks remains the number one suspect in his girlfriend’s brutal unsolved death, and now he has a new woman in his sights --- Annalisa’s best friend.
About the Book
LONG GONE is the next installment of Joanna Schaffhausen's critically acclaimed Detective Annalisa Vega series.
Chicago detective Annalisa Vega shattered her life, personally and professionally, when she turned in her ex-cop father for his role in a murder. Her family can’t forgive her. Her fellow officers no longer trust her. So when detective Leo Hammond turns up dead in a bizarre murder, Annalisa thinks she has nothing to lose by investigating whatever secrets he hid behind the thin blue line.
Annalisa quickly zeroes in on someone who had good reason to want Hammond dead: a wealthy, fast-talking car salesman who’d gotten away with murder once and wasn’t about to let Hammond take a second shot. Moe Bocks remains the number one suspect in his girlfriend’s brutal unsolved death, and now he’s got a new woman in his sights --- Annalisa’s best friend.
Annalisa is desperate to protect her friend and force Bocks to pay, either for Hammond’s death or his earlier crime. But when no one else believes the connection, she takes increasingly risky chances to reveal the truth. Because both Hammond and Bocks had secrets to die for, and if she doesn’t untangle them soon, Annalisa will be next.