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Editorial Content for The Favor

Book

Reviewer (text)

Barbara Lipkien Gershenbaum

Judith Winter is a geriatric medical doctor who works in a hospital. One day, when her shift is over, she is greeted by her first love, Liam. Jude is flabbergasted to find him waiting for her and has mixed feelings about his showing up at her place of employment. Read More

Teaser

Jude hasn’t seen Liam in years, but when he shows up at her work asking for a favor, she finds she can’t refuse. All Jude has to do is pick Liam up at a country train station --- without telling anyone. So what if she has to lie to her fiancé? Jude is still committed to him and their imminent wedding, even if she and Liam were in love once. She owes him. After the car crash that changed everything years ago, bright, ambitious Jude went to medical school, back on the path she had planned before meeting moody, artistic Liam. Meanwhile, he never fully recovered from the dark stain the accident left on his record. Now he’s gone. When the police show up at the station instead of Liam, Jude realizes that she knows nothing about the man he’s become.

Promo

Jude hasn’t seen Liam in years, but when he shows up at her work asking for a favor, she finds she can’t refuse. All Jude has to do is pick Liam up at a country train station --- without telling anyone. So what if she has to lie to her fiancé? Jude is still committed to him and their imminent wedding, even if she and Liam were in love once. She owes him. After the car crash that changed everything years ago, bright, ambitious Jude went to medical school, back on the path she had planned before meeting moody, artistic Liam. Meanwhile, he never fully recovered from the dark stain the accident left on his record. Now he’s gone. When the police show up at the station instead of Liam, Jude realizes that she knows nothing about the man he’s become.

About the Book

In this twisty new stand-alone novel from internationally bestselling author Nicci French, a young woman agrees to do a favor for her first love --- but when things go horribly wrong, one small task turns into a murder investigation that completely upends her life, ensnaring her in a deadly web of secrets and lies.

It’s a simple enough favor.

Jude hasn’t seen Liam in years, but when he shows up at her work asking for a favor, she finds she can’t refuse. All Jude has to do is pick Liam up at a country train station --- without telling anyone. So what if she has to lie to her fiancé? Jude is still committed to him and their imminent wedding, even if she and Liam were in love once.

She owes him.

After the car crash that changed everything years ago, bright, ambitious Jude went to medical school, back on the path she had planned before meeting moody, artistic Liam. Meanwhile, he never fully recovered from the dark stain the accident left on his record.

Now he’s gone.

When the police show up at the station instead of Liam, Jude realizes that she knows nothing about the man he’s become. Now she’s tangled up in his life, the last person to have seen him, and maybe the only one who can uncover the truth about what went wrong --- even if she destroys her own life in the process.

Audiobook available, read by Imogen Church

Editorial Content for The Storyteller's Death

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Rebecca Munro

Award-winning author Ann Dávila Cardinal’s THE STORYTELLER’S DEATH is a gorgeous, emotionally resonant and culturally relevant family saga about a young woman’s inherited gift, which may be a curse. Read More

Teaser

Isla Larsen Sanchez's life begins to unravel when her father passes away. Instead of being comforted at home in New Jersey, her mother starts leaving her in Puerto Rico with her grandmother and great-aunt each summer like a piece of forgotten luggage. When Isla turns 18, her grandmother, a great storyteller, dies. It is then that Isla discovers she has a gift passed down through her family's cuentistas. The tales of dead family storytellers are brought back to life, replaying themselves over and over in front of her. At first, Isla is enchanted by this connection to the Sanchez cuentistas. But when Isla has a vision of an old murder mystery, she realizes that if she can't solve it to make the loop end, these seemingly harmless stories could cost Isla her life.

Promo

Isla Larsen Sanchez's life begins to unravel when her father passes away. Instead of being comforted at home in New Jersey, her mother starts leaving her in Puerto Rico with her grandmother and great-aunt each summer like a piece of forgotten luggage. When Isla turns 18, her grandmother, a great storyteller, dies. It is then that Isla discovers she has a gift passed down through her family's cuentistas. The tales of dead family storytellers are brought back to life, replaying themselves over and over in front of her. At first, Isla is enchanted by this connection to the Sanchez cuentistas. But when Isla has a vision of an old murder mystery, she realizes that if she can't solve it to make the loop end, these seemingly harmless stories could cost Isla her life.

About the Book

From International Latino Book Award-winning author Ann Dávila Cardinal comes a gorgeously written family saga about a Puerto Rican teenager who finds herself gifted (or cursed?) with a strange ability.

There was always an old woman dying in the back room of her family's house when Isla was a child...

Isla Larsen Sanchez's life begins to unravel when her father passes away. Instead of being comforted at home in New Jersey, her mother starts leaving her in Puerto Rico with her grandmother and great-aunt each summer like a piece of forgotten luggage.

When Isla turns 18, her grandmother, a great storyteller, dies. It is then that Isla discovers she has a gift passed down through her family's cuentistas. The tales of dead family storytellers are brought back to life, replaying themselves over and over in front of her.

At first, Isla is enchanted by this connection to the Sanchez cuentistas. But when Isla has a vision of an old murder mystery, she realizes that if she can't solve it to make the loop end, these seemingly harmless stories could cost Isla her life.

Audiobook available, read by Marisol Ramirez

Editorial Content for Beasts of the Earth

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Ray Palen

James Wade really impressed me with his latest release, BEASTS OF THE EARTH. It’s written in the style of great, serious fiction and called to mind tales of the modern West by writers like Cormac McCarthy and playwright Sam Shepard. Read More

Teaser

Harlen LeBlanc is a dependable, if quiet, employee of the Carter Hills High School's grounds department, whose carefully maintained routine is overthrown by an act of violence. As the town searches for answers, LeBlanc strikes out on his own to exonerate a friend, while drawing the eyes of the law to himself and fending off unwelcome voices that call for a sterner form of justice. Twenty years earlier, young Michael Fischer dreads the return of his father from prison. He spends his days stealing from trap lines in the Louisiana bayou to feed his fanatically religious mother and his cherished younger sister, Doreen. When his father eventually returns, an evil arrives in Michael's life that sends him running from everything he has ever known.

Promo

Harlen LeBlanc is a dependable, if quiet, employee of the Carter Hills High School's grounds department, whose carefully maintained routine is overthrown by an act of violence. As the town searches for answers, LeBlanc strikes out on his own to exonerate a friend, while drawing the eyes of the law to himself and fending off unwelcome voices that call for a sterner form of justice. Twenty years earlier, young Michael Fischer dreads the return of his father from prison. He spends his days stealing from trap lines in the Louisiana bayou to feed his fanatically religious mother and his cherished younger sister, Doreen. When his father eventually returns, an evil arrives in Michael's life that sends him running from everything he has ever known.

About the Book

James Wade, whose first two novels were praised as "rhapsodic" and "haunting," delivers his most powerful work to date --- a chilling parable about the impossible demands of hate and love, trauma and goodness, vividly set in the landscapes of Texas and Louisiana.

BEASTS OF THE EARTH tells the story of Harlen LeBlanc, a dependable if quiet employee of the Carter Hills High School's grounds department, whose carefully maintained routine is overthrown by an act of violence. As the town searches for answers, LeBlanc strikes out on his own to exonerate a friend, while drawing the eyes of the law to himself and fending off unwelcome voices that call for a sterner form of justice.

Twenty years earlier, young Michael Fischer dreads the return of his father from prison. He spends his days stealing from trap lines in the Louisiana bayou to feed his fanatically religious mother and his cherished younger sister, Doreen. When his father eventually returns, an evil arrives in Michael's life that sends him running from everything he has ever known. He is rescued by a dying poet and his lover, who extract from him a promise: to be a good man, whatever that may require.

BEASTS OF THE EARTH deftly intertwines these stories, exploring themes of time, fate and free will, to produce a revelatory conclusion that is both beautiful and heartbreaking.

Audiobook available, read by Roger Clark

October 28, 2022

While I truly love where we live, there is a part of me that would like to live in Colorado, Wyoming or Montana, or somewhere else where there are mountains and lots of sky. So I enjoyed seeing Lee Child and his brother, Andrew Child, being interviewed on “CBS Saturday Morning” last weekend. They were in Wyoming where they have ranches near each other; Lee’s is on 35 acres, and Andrew’s is a mile away. They also have bought a town out there. I believe the segment was shot at Andrew’s house, as his wife posted a photo of the shoot on social media a few weeks ago. As I was watching, there was a pillow with a buffalo on it over the interviewer’s shoulder. We have the same one --- one of my many little odes to the west here at the house. Yes, this humored me, so I had to share it!

Charmaine Wilkerson Event

The 2022 Kirkus Prize

The winners of the 2022 Kirkus Prize were announced on October 27th in a hybrid ceremony at the Austin Central Library in Austin, Texas, hosted by Kirkus Media CEO Meg LaBorde Kuehn and streamed live on YouTube.

Interview: Robert J. Lloyd, author of The Poison Machine: A Hunt & Hooke Novel

Oct 27, 2022

THE POISON MACHINE is the thrilling follow-up to Robert J. Lloyd’s debut novel, THE BLOODLESS BOY, which was a New York Times Best New Historical Novel of 2021. This time, early scientists Harry Hunt and Robert Hooke of the Royal Society stumble on a plot to kill the Queen of England. In this interview conducted by Michael Barson, Senior Publicity Executive at Melville House, Lloyd explains how his approach to writing THE POISON MACHINE differed from THE BLOODLESS BOY, discusses his research for the sequel and the most unexpected discovery he made during the process, and previews the conclusion to his Hunt & Hooke trilogy.

October 25, 2022

In this newsletter, you will find books releasing the weeks of October 24th and October 31st 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 WAYS WE HIDE, an instant international bestseller from Kristina McMorris following her million-copy bestseller, SOLD ON A MONDAY. The deadline for your entries is Wednesday, November 9th at noon ET.

Dani Shapiro, author of Signal Fires

On a summer night in 1985, three teenagers have been drinking. One of them gets behind the wheel of a car, and, in an instant, everything on Division Street changes. Each of their lives, and that of Ben Wilf, a young doctor who arrives on the scene, is shattered. For the Wilf family, the circumstances of that fatal accident will become the deepest kind of secret, one so dangerous it can never be spoken. On Division Street, time has moved on. When the Shenkmans arrive --- a young couple expecting a baby boy --- it is as if the accident never happened. But when Waldo, the Shenkmans’ brilliant, lonely son who marvels at the beauty of the world and has a native ability to find connections in everything, befriends Dr. Wilf, past events come hurtling back in ways no one ever could have foreseen.

Paul Newman, author of The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Man: A Memoir

In 1986, Paul Newman and his closest friend, screenwriter Stewart Stern, began an extraordinary project. Stuart was to compile an oral history, to have Newman’s family and friends and those who worked closely with him, talk about the actor’s life. And then Newman would work with Stewart and give his side of the story. The only stipulation was that anyone who spoke on the record had to be completely honest. That same stipulation applied to Newman himself. The project lasted five years. The result is an extraordinary memoir, culled from thousands of pages of transcripts. Newman’s voice is powerful, sometimes funny, sometimes painful, always meeting that high standard of searing honesty.