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Editorial Content for The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Megan Elliott

On paper, Liesl Weiss has a bibliophile’s dream job. As the assistant director of the rare books library at an unnamed Toronto university, the woman at the center of Eva Jurczyk’s debut novel spends her days surrounded by priceless texts --- rare first editions, ancient works of science and mathematics, and meticulously constructed Bibles. Read More

Teaser

Liesl Weiss long ago learned to be content working behind the scenes in the distinguished rare books department of a large university. But when her boss has a stroke and she's left to run things, she discovers that the library's most prized manuscript is missing. Liesl tries to sound the alarm and inform the police about the missing priceless book, but is told repeatedly to keep quiet, to keep the doors open and the donors happy. But then a librarian unexpectedly stops showing up to work. Liesl must investigate both disappearances, unspooling her colleagues' pasts like the threads of a rare book binding as it becomes clear that someone in the department must be responsible for the theft.

Promo

Liesl Weiss long ago learned to be content working behind the scenes in the distinguished rare books department of a large university. But when her boss has a stroke and she's left to run things, she discovers that the library's most prized manuscript is missing. Liesl tries to sound the alarm and inform the police about the missing priceless book, but is told repeatedly to keep quiet, to keep the doors open and the donors happy. But then a librarian unexpectedly stops showing up to work. Liesl must investigate both disappearances, unspooling her colleagues' pasts like the threads of a rare book binding as it becomes clear that someone in the department must be responsible for the theft.

About the Book

ANXIOUS PEOPLE meets the delights of bookish fiction in a stunning debut following a librarian whose quiet life is turned upside down when a priceless manuscript goes missing. Soon she has to ask: What holds more secrets in the library --- the ancient books shelved in the stacks, or the people who preserve them?

Liesl Weiss long ago learned to be content working behind the scenes in the distinguished rare books department of a large university, managing details and working behind the scenes to make the head of the department look good. But when her boss has a stroke and she's left to run things, she discovers that the library's most prized manuscript is missing.

Liesl tries to sound the alarm and inform the police about the missing priceless book, but is told repeatedly to keep quiet, to keep the doors open and the donors happy. But then a librarian unexpectedly stops showing up to work. Liesl must investigate both disappearances, unspooling her colleagues' pasts like the threads of a rare book binding as it becomes clear that someone in the department must be responsible for the theft. What Liesl discovers about the dusty manuscripts she has worked among for so long --- and about the people who care for and revere them --- shakes the very foundation on which she has built her life.

Audiobook available, read by Hannah Cabell

Editorial Content for Enough Already: Learning to Love the Way I Am Today

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Cindy Burnett

While sunny and happy on screen and in public, Valerie Bertinelli struggled privately with her weight and self-image for decades. Turning 60 loomed large for her, and as she reflected on her life, she finally reached the point where she realized it was enough already --- her weight should not be overshadowing everything else and coloring her feelings about herself. Read More

Teaser

Behind the curtain of her happy on-screen persona, Valerie Bertinelli’s life has been no easy ride, especially when it comes to her own self-image and self-worth. She waged a war against herself for years, learning to equate her value to her appearance as a child star on "One Day at a Time" and punishing herself in order to fit into the unachievable Hollywood mold. She struggled to make her marriage to Eddie Van Halen --- the true love of her life --- work, despite all the rifts that the rock-star lifestyle created between them. Through mourning the loss of her parents, discovering more about her family’s past, and realizing how short life really is when she and her son lost Eddie, Valerie finally said “Enough already!” to a lifelong battle with the scale and found a new path forward to joy and connection.

Promo

Behind the curtain of her happy on-screen persona, Valerie Bertinelli’s life has been no easy ride, especially when it comes to her own self-image and self-worth. She waged a war against herself for years, learning to equate her value to her appearance as a child star on "One Day at a Time" and punishing herself in order to fit into the unachievable Hollywood mold. She struggled to make her marriage to Eddie Van Halen --- the true love of her life --- work, despite all the rifts that the rock-star lifestyle created between them. Through mourning the loss of her parents, discovering more about her family’s past, and realizing how short life really is when she and her son lost Eddie, Valerie finally said “Enough already!” to a lifelong battle with the scale and found a new path forward to joy and connection.

About the Book

Beloved actress, Food Network personality and New York Times bestselling author Valerie Bertinelli reflects on life at 60 and beyond.

Behind the curtain of her happy on-screen persona, Valerie Bertinelli’s life has been no easy ride, especially when it comes to her own self-image and self-worth. She waged a war against herself for years, learning to equate her value to her appearance as a child star on "One Day at a Time" and punishing herself in order to fit into the unachievable Hollywood mold. She struggled to make her marriage to Eddie Van Halen --- the true love of her life --- work, despite all the rifts the rock-star lifestyle created between them. She then watched her son follow in his father’s footsteps, right up onto the stage of Van Halen concerts, and begin his own music career. And like so many women, she cared for her parents as their health declined and saw the roles of parent and child reverse.

Through mourning the loss of her parents, discovering more about her family’s past, and realizing how short life really is when she and her son lost Eddie, Valerie finally said “Enough already!” to a lifelong battle with the scale and found a new path forward to joy and connection. Despite hardships and the pressures of the media industry to be something she’s not, Valerie is, at last, accepting herself: she knows who she is, has discovered her self-worth, and has learned how to prioritize her health and happiness over her weight.

With an intimate look into her insecurities, heartbreaks, losses, triumphs and revelations, ENOUGH ALREADY is the story of Valerie’s sometimes humorous, sometimes raw, but always honest journey to love herself and find joy in the everyday, in family, and in the food and memories we share.

Audiobook available, read by Valerie Bertinelli

Editorial Content for Road of Bones

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Ray Palen

Christopher Golden is one of the most diverse and talented writers working today. His latest novel, ROAD OF BONES, will not only scare the hell out of you, it will show you things you have never imagined and take you to a part of the earth that hopefully you have never been to. Collectively, this creates the perfect recipe for a nightmare-inducing work that will worm its way into your psyche and threaten to never leave. Read More

Teaser

Known as the Road of Bones, Siberia’s Kolyma Highway is a massive graveyard for the former Soviet Union’s gulag prisoners. Fascinated by the history, documentary producer Felix “Teig” Teigland is in Russia to drive the highway, envisioning a new series capturing Life and Death on the Road of Bones with a ride to the town of Akhust, collecting ghost stories and local legends along the way. But when Teig and his team reach their destination, they find an abandoned town, save one catatonic nine-year-old girl --- and a pack of predatory wolves, faster and smarter than any wild animals should be. This harrowing journey will push Teig beyond endurance and force him to confront the sins of his past.

Promo

Known as the Road of Bones, Siberia’s Kolyma Highway is a massive graveyard for the former Soviet Union’s gulag prisoners. Fascinated by the history, documentary producer Felix “Teig” Teigland is in Russia to drive the highway, envisioning a new series capturing Life and Death on the Road of Bones with a ride to the town of Akhust, collecting ghost stories and local legends along the way. But when Teig and his team reach their destination, they find an abandoned town, save one catatonic nine-year-old girl --- and a pack of predatory wolves, faster and smarter than any wild animals should be. This harrowing journey will push Teig beyond endurance and force him to confront the sins of his past.

About the Book

An American documentarian travels a haunted highway across the frozen tundra of Siberia in New York Times bestselling author Christopher Golden’s ROAD OF BONES, a “tightly wound, atmospheric, and creepy as hell” (Stephen King) supernatural thriller.

Surrounded by barren trees in a snow-covered wilderness with a dim, dusky sky forever overhead, Siberia’s Kolyma Highway is 1,200 miles of gravel packed permafrost within driving distance of the Arctic Circle. A narrow path where drivers face such challenging conditions as icy surfaces, limited visibility, and an average temperature of 60 degrees below zero, fatal car accidents are common.

But motorists are not the only victims of the highway. Known as the Road of Bones, it is a massive graveyard for the former Soviet Union’s gulag prisoners. Hundreds of thousands of people worked to death and left where their bodies fell, consumed by the frozen elements and plowed beneath the permafrost road.

Fascinated by the history, documentary producer Felix “Teig” Teigland is in Russia to drive the highway, envisioning a new series capturing Life and Death on the Road of Bones with a ride to the town of Akhust, “the coldest place on Earth”, collecting ghost stories and local legends along the way. Only, when Teig and his team reach their destination, they find an abandoned town, save one catatonic nine-year-old girl --- and a pack of predatory wolves, faster and smarter than any wild animals should be.

Pursued by the otherworldly beasts, Teig’s companions confront even more uncanny and inexplicable phenomena along the Road of Bones, as if the ghosts of Stalin’s victims were haunting them. It is a harrowing journey that will push Teig beyond endurance and force him to confront the sins of his past.

Audiobook available, read by Robert Fass

Editorial Content for Undermoney

Book

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Lorraine W. Shanley

UNDERMONEY, a dystopian political thriller, isn’t always an easy read, but ultimately it’s compelling. It asks --- and only obliquely answers --- the question of whether or not idealistic ends always justify the dark means. Read More

Teaser

When a U.S. airdrop of billions of dollars disap­pears in the desert sands of Syria, only a small group of military operatives knows its ultimate destination or why it has been stolen. Their goal is no less than the restoration of America’s geopolitical dominance on the global stage. Essential to this scheme are Greta Webb, a sophisticated CIA operative who is an expert on dark money, and Elias Vicker, the damaged, dangerous soul who runs the world’s largest hedge fund. To achieve its goals, the group must form dangerous alliances. One is with the hidden family that manages the largest private pool of capital that has ever existed. Another is with Fyodor Volk, the ruthless founder of Russia’s most successful private military company, a mercenary with ties to Vladimir Putin.

Promo

When a U.S. airdrop of billions of dollars disap­pears in the desert sands of Syria, only a small group of military operatives knows its ultimate destination or why it has been stolen. Their goal is no less than the restoration of America’s geopolitical dominance on the global stage. Essential to this scheme are Greta Webb, a sophisticated CIA operative who is an expert on dark money, and Elias Vicker, the damaged, dangerous soul who runs the world’s largest hedge fund. To achieve its goals, the group must form dangerous alliances. One is with the hidden family that manages the largest private pool of capital that has ever existed. Another is with Fyodor Volk, the ruthless founder of Russia’s most successful private military company, a mercenary with ties to Vladimir Putin.

About the Book

From a seasoned insider of global finance comes a “stimulating, relevant, and dramatic” (The Wall Street Journal) thriller about a group of American operatives who secretly take over the world’s largest dark money fund --- a gripping thriller that takes you into the world of New York hedge funds, Russian money launderers, and DC power politics [that] makes you feel like you’re actually there” (Bill Browder, author of RED NOTICE).

When a U.S. airdrop of billions of dollars disap­pears in the desert sands of Syria, only a small group of military operatives knows its ultimate destination or why it has been stolen. Their goal is no less than the restoration of America’s geopolitical dominance on the global stage. Essential to this scheme are Greta Webb, a sophisticated CIA operative who is an expert on dark money, not to mention lethally skilled in hand-to-hand combat, and Elias Vicker, the damaged, dangerous soul who runs the world’s largest hedge fund.

To achieve its goals, the group must form dangerous alliances. One is with the hidden family that manages the largest private pool of capital that has ever existed. Another is with Fyodor Volk, the ruthless founder of Russia’s most successful private military company, a mercenary with ties to Vladimir Putin. Volk has his eye on Greta. She would be wise to avoid him but cannot.

Arcing from Manhattan’s finest apartments to Washington, D.C., from Middle Eastern war zones to private European bank vaults, Jay Newman’s UNDERMONEY follows the Americans as they are enmeshed in the world of dark money and confront ever-increasing danger. Ultimately, they must decide whether their objectives are worth the cost of sacrificing not just a few but potentially many human lives. Brilliantly rendered with the details only a sophisticated financial insider knows and filled with jaw-dropping action, UNDERMONEY reveals the secret intentions and savage deeds of the world’s richest people.

Audiobook available, read by Jeremy Bobb

Editorial Content for The Paris Detective

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Ray Palen

Readers of James Patterson’s books are well aware that he has been collaborating with other writers for a number of years, many of whom have gone on to successful careers of their own. In THE PARIS DETECTIVE, Patterson teams up with Richard DiLallo, an author with whom I was not familiar. The end result is something wonderful. Read More

Teaser

The most revered detective in Paris puts his skills to the test in three thrilling cases. Very handsome and charming French detective Luc Moncrief joined the NYPD for a fresh start, but in “French Kiss,” someone wants to make his first big case his last. In the heart of the holiday season, priceless paintings have vanished from a Park Avenue murder scene. Now, Moncrief must become a quick study in the art of the steal --- before a coldblooded killer paints the town red --- in “The Christmas Mystery.” And in “French Twist,” gorgeous women are dropping dead at upscale department stores in New York City. Moncrief and Detective Katherine Burke are close to solving the mystery, but looks can be deceiving.

Promo

The most revered detective in Paris puts his skills to the test in three thrilling cases. Very handsome and charming French detective Luc Moncrief joined the NYPD for a fresh start, but in “French Kiss,” someone wants to make his first big case his last. In the heart of the holiday season, priceless paintings have vanished from a Park Avenue murder scene. Now, Moncrief must become a quick study in the art of the steal --- before a coldblooded killer paints the town red --- in “The Christmas Mystery.” And in “French Twist,” gorgeous women are dropping dead at upscale department stores in New York City. Moncrief and Detective Katherine Burke are close to solving the mystery, but looks can be deceiving.

About the Book

The most revered detective in Paris puts his skills to the test in three thrilling cases from the creator of Alex Cross and Detective Michael Bennett.

"French Kiss": Very handsome and charming French detective Luc Moncrief joined the NYPD for a fresh start --- but someone wants to make his first big case his last. Welcome to New York.

"The Christmas Mystery": In the heart of the holiday season, priceless paintings have vanished from a Park Avenue murder scene. Now, dashing French detective Luc Moncrief must become a quick study in the art of the steal --- before a coldblooded killer paints the town red. Merry Christmas, Detective.

"French Twist": Gorgeous women are dropping dead at upscale department stores in New York City. Detective Luc Moncrief and Detective Katherine Burke are close to solving the mystery, but looks can be deceiving.

Audiobook available, read by Jean Brassard

Editorial Content for The Accomplice

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Ray Palen

It is a difficult feat to write both a mind-blowing psychological thriller and a brain-twisting mystery. With the release of THE ACCOMPLICE, not only has Lisa Lutz done just that, she has hit it right out of the park. Read More

Teaser

Owen Mann is charming, privileged and chronically dissatisfied. Luna Grey is secretive, cautious and pragmatic. Despite their differences, they form a bond the moment they meet in college. Their names soon become indivisible --- Owen and Luna, Luna and Owen --- and stay that way even after an unexplained death rocks their social circle. They’re still best friends years later, when Luna finds Owen’s wife brutally murdered. The police investigation sheds light on some long-hidden secrets, but it can’t penetrate the wall of mystery that surrounds Owen. To get to the heart of what happened and why, Luna has to dig up the one secret she’s spent her whole life burying.

Promo

Owen Mann is charming, privileged and chronically dissatisfied. Luna Grey is secretive, cautious and pragmatic. Despite their differences, they form a bond the moment they meet in college. Their names soon become indivisible --- Owen and Luna, Luna and Owen --- and stay that way even after an unexplained death rocks their social circle. They’re still best friends years later, when Luna finds Owen’s wife brutally murdered. The police investigation sheds light on some long-hidden secrets, but it can’t penetrate the wall of mystery that surrounds Owen. To get to the heart of what happened and why, Luna has to dig up the one secret she’s spent her whole life burying.

About the Book

Everyone has the same questions about best friends Owen and Luna: What binds them together so tightly? Why weren’t they ever a couple? And why do people around them keep turning up dead? In this riveting novel from the New York Times bestselling author of THE PASSENGER, every answer raises a new, more chilling question.

Owen Mann is charming, privileged and chronically dissatisfied. Luna Grey is secretive, cautious and pragmatic. Despite their differences, they form a bond the moment they meet in college. Their names soon become indivisible --- Owen and Luna, Luna and Owen --- and stay that way even after an unexplained death rocks their social circle.

They’re still best friends years later, when Luna finds Owen’s wife brutally murdered. The police investigation sheds light on some long-hidden secrets, but it can’t penetrate the wall of mystery that surrounds Owen. To get to the heart of what happened and why, Luna has to dig up the one secret she’s spent her whole life burying.

THE ACCOMPLICE brilliantly examines the bonds of shared history, what it costs to break them, and what happens when you start wondering how well you know the one person who truly knows you.

Audiobook available, read by Lisa Flanagan

Editorial Content for Good Rich People

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Norah Piehl

When the reader meets Lyla, the character who narrates the first portion of GOOD RICH PEOPLE, she comes off as cold, almost emotionless, both utterly bored with her life and yet seemingly in fear of losing her lifestyle. She is married to Graham, a fabulously handsome man whose looks are dwarfed only by his riches. And, as Lyla informs the reader, Graham’s mother Margo’s wealth dwarfs Graham’s: “His mother has money that makes our money look poor.” Read More

Teaser

Lyla has always believed that life is a game she is destined to win, but her husband, Graham, takes the game to dangerous levels. The wealthy couple invites self-made success stories to live in their guesthouse and then conspires to ruin their lives. After all, there is nothing worse than a bootstrapper. Demi has always felt like the odds were stacked against her. At the end of her rope, she seizes a risky opportunity to take over another person’s life and unwittingly becomes the subject of the upstairs couple’s wicked entertainment. But Demi has been struggling forever, and she’s not about to go down without a fight. In a twist that neither woman sees coming, the game quickly devolves into chaos and rockets toward an explosive conclusion.

Promo

Lyla has always believed that life is a game she is destined to win, but her husband, Graham, takes the game to dangerous levels. The wealthy couple invites self-made success stories to live in their guesthouse and then conspires to ruin their lives. After all, there is nothing worse than a bootstrapper. Demi has always felt like the odds were stacked against her. At the end of her rope, she seizes a risky opportunity to take over another person’s life and unwittingly becomes the subject of the upstairs couple’s wicked entertainment. But Demi has been struggling forever, and she’s not about to go down without a fight. In a twist that neither woman sees coming, the game quickly devolves into chaos and rockets toward an explosive conclusion.

About the Book

A destitute woman deceives her way into the guesthouse of a Hollywood Hills mansion and inadvertently becomes a target in the twisted game of the wealthy family upstairs in the next intoxicating novel from Eliza Jane Brazier.

Lyla has always believed that life is a game she is destined to win, but her husband, Graham, takes the game to dangerous levels. The wealthy couple invites self-made success stories to live in their guesthouse and then conspires to ruin their lives. After all, there is nothing worse than a bootstrapper. 

Demi has always felt like the odds were stacked against her. At the end of her rope, she seizes a risky opportunity to take over another person’s life and unwittingly becomes the subject of the upstairs couple’s wicked entertainment. But Demi has been struggling forever, and she’s not about to go down without a fight.  

In a twist that neither woman sees coming, the game quickly devolves into chaos and rockets toward an explosive conclusion.

Because every good rich person knows: in money and in life, it’s winner take all. Even if you have to leave a few bodies behind.

Audiobook available, read by Karissa Vacker

Editorial Content for Manifesto: On Never Giving Up

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Harvey Freedenberg

Bernardine Evaristo is the classic case of a writer who became an “overnight success” after working for four decades at her craft. When she shared the Booker Prize in 2019 with Margaret Atwood for her novel, GIRL, WOMAN, OTHER, it clearly represented the pinnacle of a long career. But the British poet, novelist and dramatist’s lack of wide public recognition wasn’t for lack of prodigious effort, often against daunting odds. Read More

Teaser

Bernardine Evaristo’s nonfiction debut is a vibrant and inspirational account of her life and career as she rebelled against the mainstream and fought over several decades to bring her creative work into the world. With her characteristic humor, Evaristo describes her childhood as one of eight siblings, with a Nigerian father and white Catholic mother, tells the story of how she helped set up Britain’s first Black women’s theatre company, remembers the queer relationships of her 20s, and recounts her determination to write books that were absent in the literary world around her. She provides a hugely powerful perspective to contemporary conversations around race, class, feminism, sexuality and aging.

Promo

Bernardine Evaristo’s nonfiction debut is a vibrant and inspirational account of her life and career as she rebelled against the mainstream and fought over several decades to bring her creative work into the world. With her characteristic humor, Evaristo describes her childhood as one of eight siblings, with a Nigerian father and white Catholic mother, tells the story of how she helped set up Britain’s first Black women’s theatre company, remembers the queer relationships of her 20s, and recounts her determination to write books that were absent in the literary world around her. She provides a hugely powerful perspective to contemporary conversations around race, class, feminism, sexuality and aging.

About the Book

From the bestselling and Booker Prize–winning author of GIRL, WOMAN, OTHER, Bernardine Evaristo’s memoir of her own life and writing, and her manifesto on unstoppability, creativity and activism.

Bernardine Evaristo’s 2019 Booker Prize win was a historic and revolutionary occasion, with Evaristo being the first Black woman and first Black British person ever to win the prize in its 50-year history. GIRL, WOMAN, OTHER was named a favorite book of the year by President Obama and Roxane Gay, was translated into 35 languages, and has now reached more than a million readers.

Evaristo’s astonishing nonfiction debut, MANIFESTO, is a vibrant and inspirational account of Evaristo’s life and career as she rebelled against the mainstream and fought over several decades to bring her creative work into the world. With her characteristic humor, Evaristo describes her childhood as one of eight siblings, with a Nigerian father and white Catholic mother, tells the story of how she helped set up Britain’s first Black women’s theatre company, remembers the queer relationships of her 20s, and recounts her determination to write books that were absent in the literary world around her. She provides a hugely powerful perspective to contemporary conversations around race, class, feminism, sexuality and aging. She reminds us of how far we have come, and how far we still have to go. In MANIFESTO, Evaristo charts her theory of unstoppability, showing creative people how they too can visualize and find success in their work, ignoring the naysayers.

Both unconventional memoir and inspirational text, MANIFESTO is a unique reminder to us all to persist in doing work we believe in, even when we might feel overlooked or discounted. Evaristo shows us how we too can follow in her footsteps, from first vision, to insistent perseverance, to eventual triumph.

Audiobook available, read by Bernardine Evaristo

Editorial Content for Dante: A Life

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Pauline Finch

It’s a liminal stretch for both the imagination and intellect to call Alessandro Barbero’s DANTE a true biography, but one can’t fault the author one iota for trying. He ends up succeeding in unexpected ways.

It takes a certain kind of forensic and literary courage to attempt the chronological reconstruction of a figure so iconic, yet so personally elusive, that historians cannot even agree on the exact dates of his birth and demise. Read More

Teaser

Dante Alighieri’s DIVINE COMEDY has defined how people imagine and depict heaven and hell for over seven centuries. However, outside of Italy, his other works are not well known, and less still is generally known about the context in which he wrote them. In DANTE, Alessandro Barbero brings the legendary author’s Italy to life, describing the political intrigue, battles, city and society that shaped his life and work. The son of a shylock who dreams of belonging to the world of writers and nobles, we follow Dante into the dark corridors of politics where ideals are shattered by rampant corruption, and then into exile as he travels Italy and discovers the extraordinary color and variety of the countryside, the metropolises and the knightly courts.

Promo

Dante Alighieri’s DIVINE COMEDY has defined how people imagine and depict heaven and hell for over seven centuries. However, outside of Italy, his other works are not well known, and less still is generally known about the context in which he wrote them. In DANTE, Alessandro Barbero brings the legendary author’s Italy to life, describing the political intrigue, battles, city and society that shaped his life and work. The son of a shylock who dreams of belonging to the world of writers and nobles, we follow Dante into the dark corridors of politics where ideals are shattered by rampant corruption, and then into exile as he travels Italy and discovers the extraordinary color and variety of the countryside, the metropolises and the knightly courts.

About the Book

DANTE brings the legendary author --- and the medieval Italy of his era --- to vivid life, describing the political intrigue, battles, culture and society that shaped his writing. 

Dante Alighieri’s DIVINE COMEDY has defined how people imagine and depict heaven and hell for over seven centuries.

However, outside of Italy, his other works are not well known, and less still is generally known about the context in which he wrote them. In DANTE, Alessandro Barbero brings the legendary author’s Italy to life, describing the political intrigue, battles, city and society that shaped his life and work. The son of a shylock who dreams of belonging to the world of writers and nobles, we follow Dante into the dark corridors of politics where ideals are shattered by rampant corruption, and then into exile as he travels Italy and discovers the extraordinary color and variety of the countryside, the metropolises and the knightly courts.

This is a book by a serious scholar with real popular appeal, as evidenced by its bestseller ranking in Italy. It is a remarkable piece of forensic investigation into medieval Italian life.

Editorial Content for Such a Pretty Smile

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Sarah Rachel Egelman

It’s 2019, and 13-year-old Lila Sawyer is feeling stifled at home and dealing with her romantic feelings for her best friend, Macie. Her father, Daniel, lives far away and is focused on his new marriage and the health of his newborn daughter. Her mother, Caroline, is an artist who struggles with mental health issues and parenting a teen who is demanding independence. Read More

Teaser

2019: Thirteen-year-old Lila Sawyer has secrets she can’t share with anyone. But when young women around her begin dying, wild speculation ensues. Soon Lila feels haunted from within, terrorized by a delicious evil that shows her how to find her voice --- until she’s in danger for using it. 2004: Caroline Sawyer sees dogs everywhere that no one else seems to notice. As these snarling, teeth-bared delusions begin to take shape in the sculptures she makes in a trance-like state, her fiancé is convinced she needs help from a professional. But Caroline’s past is a dark cellar, filled with repressed memories and a lurking horror that others around her can’t understand. As past and present demons converge, Caroline and Lila must chase the source of this unrelenting power to its core, either to obliterate it or lose themselves forever.

Promo

2019: Thirteen-year-old Lila Sawyer has secrets she can’t share with anyone. But when young women around her begin dying, wild speculation ensues. Soon Lila feels haunted from within, terrorized by a delicious evil that shows her how to find her voice --- until she’s in danger for using it. 2004: Caroline Sawyer sees dogs everywhere that no one else seems to notice. As these snarling, teeth-bared delusions begin to take shape in the sculptures she makes in a trance-like state, her fiancé is convinced she needs help from a professional. But Caroline’s past is a dark cellar, filled with repressed memories and a lurking horror that others around her can’t understand. As past and present demons converge, Caroline and Lila must chase the source of this unrelenting power to its core, either to obliterate it or lose themselves forever.

About the Book

In this biting and electrifying novel from bold horror talent Kristi DeMeester, there’s something out there that’s murdering young women --- until an overwhelmed mother and her secretive daughter refuse to live without answers any longer.

He’s known as The Cur, and he leaves no trace --- except for the victims he viciously slays every 15 years. Young women who refuse to conform and don’t know when to shut up.

2019: Thirteen-year-old Lila Sawyer has secrets she can’t share with anyone. But when young women around her begin dying, wild speculation ensues. Soon Lila feels haunted from within, terrorized by a delicious evil that shows her how to find her voice --- until she’s in danger for using it.

2004: Caroline Sawyer sees dogs everywhere that no one else seems to notice. As these snarling, teeth-bared delusions begin to take shape in the sculptures she makes in a trance-like state, her fiancé is convinced she needs help from a professional. But Caroline’s past is a dark cellar, filled with repressed memories and a lurking horror that others around her can’t understand.

As past and present demons converge, Caroline and Lila must chase the source of this unrelenting power to its core, either to obliterate it or lose themselves forever. Brilliantly paced and unapologetically fierce, SUCH A PRETTY SMILE will make you want to stand up and rage at everyone who ever told you to shut up and smile pretty.

Audiobook available, read by Khristine Hvam