October 8, 2024
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 Reading Contest by Wednesday, October 9th at noon ET for a chance to win one of five copies of THE LOVE ELIXIR OF AUGUSTA STERN by Lynda Cohen Loigman, which is now available. Please note that each contest is only open for 24 hours, so you will need to act quickly!
Editorial Content for The Great When: A Long London Novel
Contributors
Reviewer (text)
Alan Moore is the creative genius behind such classic graphic novels as From Hell and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, in addition to literary fiction and nonfiction. He now delves into some historical fantasy with the release of THE GREAT WHEN, which is set in London following the end of WWII. Read More
Teaser
London, 1949. Amidst the smog of the capital stumbles Dennis Knuckleyard, a hapless 18-year-old employed by a secondhand bookshop. One day, on an errand to acquire books for sale, Dennis discovers a novel that simply does not exist. It is a fictitious book, a figment from another novel. Yet it is physically there in his hands. How? Dennis has stumbled on a book from the Great When, a magical version of London beyond time and space, where reality blurs with fiction and concepts such as Crime and Poetry are incarnated as wondrous, terrible beings. But this other, magical London must remain a secret. If Dennis cannot find a way to return this book to where it belongs, he risks repercussions, such as his body being turned inside out (or worse). Soon he finds himself at the center of an explosive series of events that may alter and endanger both Londons forever.
Promo
London, 1949. Amidst the smog of the capital stumbles Dennis Knuckleyard, a hapless 18-year-old employed by a secondhand bookshop. One day, on an errand to acquire books for sale, Dennis discovers a novel that simply does not exist. It is a fictitious book, a figment from another novel. Yet it is physically there in his hands. How? Dennis has stumbled on a book from the Great When, a magical version of London beyond time and space, where reality blurs with fiction and concepts such as Crime and Poetry are incarnated as wondrous, terrible beings. But this other, magical London must remain a secret. If Dennis cannot find a way to return this book to where it belongs, he risks repercussions, such as his body being turned inside out (or worse). Soon he finds himself at the center of an explosive series of events that may alter and endanger both Londons forever.
About the Book
From the New York Times bestselling author and legendary storyteller Alan Moore, the first book in an enthralling new fantasy series about murder, magic and madness in post-WWII London.
The year is 1949, the city London. Amidst the smog of the capital stumbles Dennis Knuckleyard, a hapless 18-year-old employed by a secondhand bookshop. One day, on an errand to acquire books for sale, Dennis discovers a novel that simply does not exist. It is a fictitious book, a figment from another novel. Yet it is physically there in his hands. How?
Dennis has stumbled on a book from the Great When, a magical version of London beyond time and space, where reality blurs with fiction and concepts such as Crime and Poetry are incarnated as wondrous, terrible beings. But this other, magical London must remain a secret: if Dennis cannot find a way to return this book to where it belongs, he risks repercussions, such as his body being turned inside out (or worse).
So begins a journey delving deep into the city's occult underbelly and tarrying with an eccentric cast of sorcerers, gangsters and murderers --- some from legend, some all too real, and all with plans of their own. Soon Dennis finds himself at the centre of an explosive series of events that may alter and endanger both Londons forever.
Audiobook available, read by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith
Editorial Content for Drawn Testimony: My Four Decades as a Courtroom Sketch Artist
Contributors
Reviewer (text)
In a world where just about everyone has a camera at their fingertips, photography is still not allowed in most courtrooms. That leaves the visual recording of such momentous events in the hands of the sketch artist.
How often have you seen these drawings on the evening news, depicting the events of the day from major trials? There are certain professions, especially within the arts, that most people don’t think about. The courtroom artist is one of those. DRAWN TESTIMONY will give the reader insight into and a new appreciation for a job that often falls just out of view. Read More
Teaser
For over 40 years, Jane Rosenberg has been at the heart of the news cycle, covering almost every major trial that has passed through the New York justice system as a courtroom sketch artist, including the most recent Donald Trump hush money trial. In DRAWN TESTIMONY, Rosenberg brings us into the dramatic high-stakes world of her craft, where art, psychology and courtroom drama collide. Over the course of her legendary career, Jane has had a front-row seat to some of the most iconic and notorious moments in our nation’s recent history. Readers will learn how she has honed her unique powers of perception and what her portraits reveal, not only about her subjects, but about the human condition in general.
Promo
For over 40 years, Jane Rosenberg has been at the heart of the news cycle, covering almost every major trial that has passed through the New York justice system as a courtroom sketch artist, including the most recent Donald Trump hush money trial. In DRAWN TESTIMONY, Rosenberg brings us into the dramatic high-stakes world of her craft, where art, psychology and courtroom drama collide. Over the course of her legendary career, Jane has had a front-row seat to some of the most iconic and notorious moments in our nation’s recent history. Readers will learn how she has honed her unique powers of perception and what her portraits reveal, not only about her subjects, but about the human condition in general.
About the Book
From America’s top courtroom sketch artist, a penetrating, compulsively readable memoir about her dramatic four-decade career.
For over 40 years, Jane Rosenberg has been at the heart of the news cycle, covering almost every major trial that has passed through the New York justice system as a courtroom sketch artist, including the most recent Donald Trump hush money trial.
In DRAWN TESTIMONY, Rosenberg brings us into the dramatic high-stakes world of her craft, where art, psychology and courtroom drama collide. Over the course of her legendary career, Jane has had a front-row seat to some of the most iconic and notorious moments in our nation’s recent history, including cases pertaining to:
- Mick Jagger
- Martha Stewart
- Tom Brady's "Deflategate" scandal
- John Lennon’s murder trial
- Ghislaine Maxwell
- John Gotti
- Harvey Weinstein
- The Boston Marathon bomber
- Donald Trump
Readers will learn how she has honed her unique powers of perception and also what her portraits reveal, not only about her subjects, but about the human condition in general.
Fearless, fascinating and gorgeously written, DRAWN TESTIMONY captures the unique career of an artist whose body of work depicts history as it’s happening.
Audiobook available, read by Gabra Zackman
Editorial Content for Betrayal at Blackthorn Park: An Evelyne Redfern Mystery
Contributors
Reviewer (text)
Fans of Julia Kelly's historical novels met Evelyne Redfern in A TRAITOR IN WHITEHALL, where she is hired as a typist in the war department of the British government during WWII. There she stumbles upon a murder, and she and spy David Poole, who becomes her romantic interest, solve the crime. Read More
Teaser
Freshly graduated from a rigorous training program in all things spy craft, former typist Evelyne Redfern is eager for her first assignment as a field agent helping Britain win the war. However, when she learns her first task is performing a simple security test at Blackthorn Park, a requisitioned manor house in the sleepy Sussex countryside, she can’t help her initial disappointment. Making matters worse, her handler is to be David Poole, a fellow agent who manages to be both strait-laced and dashing in annoyingly equal measure. However, Evelyne soon realizes that Blackthorn Park is more than meets the eye, and an upcoming visit from Winston Churchill means that security at the secret weapons research and development facility is of the utmost importance. When Evelyne discovers Blackthorn Park’s chief engineer dead in his office, her simple assignment becomes more complicated.
Promo
Freshly graduated from a rigorous training program in all things spy craft, former typist Evelyne Redfern is eager for her first assignment as a field agent helping Britain win the war. However, when she learns her first task is performing a simple security test at Blackthorn Park, a requisitioned manor house in the sleepy Sussex countryside, she can’t help her initial disappointment. Making matters worse, her handler is to be David Poole, a fellow agent who manages to be both strait-laced and dashing in annoyingly equal measure. However, Evelyne soon realizes that Blackthorn Park is more than meets the eye, and an upcoming visit from Winston Churchill means that security at the secret weapons research and development facility is of the utmost importance. When Evelyne discovers Blackthorn Park’s chief engineer dead in his office, her simple assignment becomes more complicated.
About the Book
With mystery, intrigue and the hints of romance international bestselling author Julia Kelly is known for, Evelyne Redfern returns in BETRAYAL AT BLACKTHORN PARK.
Freshly graduated from a rigorous training program in all things spy craft, former typist Evelyne Redfern is eager for her first assignment as a field agent helping Britain win the war. However, when she learns her first task is performing a simple security test at Blackthorn Park, a requisitioned manor house in the sleepy Sussex countryside, she can’t help her initial disappointment.
Making matters worse, her handler is to be David Poole, a fellow agent who manages to be both strait-laced and dashing in annoyingly equal measure. However, Evelyne soon realizes that Blackthorn Park is more than meets the eye, and an upcoming visit from Winston Churchill means that security at the secret weapons research and development facility is of the utmost importance.
When Evelyne discovers Blackthorn Park’s chief engineer dead in his office, her simple assignment becomes more complicated. Evelyne must use all of her --- and David’s --- detection skills to root out who is responsible and uncover layers of deception that could change the course of the war.
Audiobook available, read by Marisa Calin
Editorial Content for The Last Dream
Book
Contributors
Reviewer (text)
At the Venice Film Festival in September, Spanish film director and screenwriter Pedro Almodóvar received an 18-minute standing ovation for his first English-language movie, The Room Next Door, starring Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton. His storied career takes a new turn with the arrival of his first book of stories --- some are personal and comic, while others are fables and a little gothic fiction. Read More
Teaser
With this debut collection, two-time Academy Award-winning writer and director Pedro Almodóvar delivers a tantalizing glimpse into his world, formed by 12 stories carefully selected from his personal writings dating from the late ‘60s to the present. Almodóvar writes: “I’ve been asked to write my autobiography more than once, and I’ve always refused…. I’ve never kept a diary, and whenever I’ve tried, I’ve never made it to page two; in a sense, then, this book represents something of a paradox. It might be best described as a fragmentary autobiography, incomplete and a little enigmatic.” Each entry reflects Almodóvar's most intimate obsessions, as well as his evolution as an artist.
Promo
With this debut collection, two-time Academy Award-winning writer and director Pedro Almodóvar delivers a tantalizing glimpse into his world, formed by 12 stories carefully selected from his personal writings dating from the late ‘60s to the present. Almodóvar writes: “I’ve been asked to write my autobiography more than once, and I’ve always refused…. I’ve never kept a diary, and whenever I’ve tried, I’ve never made it to page two; in a sense, then, this book represents something of a paradox. It might be best described as a fragmentary autobiography, incomplete and a little enigmatic.” Each entry reflects Almodóvar's most intimate obsessions, as well as his evolution as an artist.
About the Book
Making his English language debut, the iconoclastic, two-time Academy award-winning writer and director reveals his singular mind as never before in this collection of 12 remarkable stories spanning memoir, comedy, autofiction, parody, pastiche and gothic fiction.
With this debut collection, two-time Academy Award-winning writer and director Pedro Almodóvar delivers a tantalizing glimpse into his world, formed by 12 stories carefully selected from his personal writings dating from the late ‘60s to the present. Almodóvar writes: “I’ve been asked to write my autobiography more than once, and I’ve always refused…. I’ve never kept a diary, and whenever I’ve tried, I’ve never made it to page two; in a sense, then, this book represents something of a paradox. It might be best described as a fragmentary autobiography, incomplete and a little enigmatic.”
Each entry reflects Almodóvar's most intimate obsessions, as well as his evolution as an artist. In the title story, “The Last Dream,” Almodóvar reflects on the death of his mother. Other entries in the collection include a love story between Jesus and Barabbas, a story of retribution that formed the basis for the film Bad Education, a manic adventure about a film director searching for painkillers on a bank holiday weekend, and a gothic tale centered around a repentant vampire.
Audiobook available; read by Colman Domingo, Rachel Weisz, Juan Diego Botto, Norbert Leo Butz, Taylour Paige, Michael Cera and Edoardo Ballerini
Editorial Content for The Usual Silence: An Arles Shepherd Thriller
Contributors
Reviewer (text)
In THE USUAL SILENCE, award-winning author Jenny Milchman introduces readers to a highly complex character. Arles Shepherd is a psychologist who suffers from childhood trauma and now finds herself tending to troubled and mistreated children in her own practice. The book has the expected clever plotting that Milchman is famous for and features a number of characters she brilliantly will link together by fate, with the “silence” metaphor playing a heavy role in the narrative. Read More
Teaser
Psychologist Arles Shepherd treats troubled children, struggling with each case to recover from her own traumatic past. Having just set up a new kind of treatment center in the remote Adirondack wilderness, Arles longs to heal one patient in particular: a 10-year-old boy who has never spoken a word --- or so his mother, Louise, believes. Hundreds of miles away, Cass Monroe is living a parent’s worst nightmare. His 12-year-old daughter has vanished on her way home from school. With no clues, no witnesses and no trail, the police are at a dead end. Fighting a heart that was already ailing, and struggling to keep both his marriage and himself alive, Cass turns to a pair of true-crime podcasters for help. Arles, Louise and Cass will soon find their lives entangled in ways none of them could have anticipated.
Promo
Psychologist Arles Shepherd treats troubled children, struggling with each case to recover from her own traumatic past. Having just set up a new kind of treatment center in the remote Adirondack wilderness, Arles longs to heal one patient in particular: a 10-year-old boy who has never spoken a word --- or so his mother, Louise, believes. Hundreds of miles away, Cass Monroe is living a parent’s worst nightmare. His 12-year-old daughter has vanished on her way home from school. With no clues, no witnesses and no trail, the police are at a dead end. Fighting a heart that was already ailing, and struggling to keep both his marriage and himself alive, Cass turns to a pair of true-crime podcasters for help. Arles, Louise and Cass will soon find their lives entangled in ways none of them could have anticipated.
About the Book
A psychologist haunted by childhood trauma must unearth all that is buried in her past in this twisting, lyrical novel of suspense by Mary Higgins Clark Award-winning author Jenny Milchman.
Psychologist Arles Shepherd treats troubled children, struggling with each case to recover from her own traumatic past, much of which she’s lost to the shadows of memory. Having just set up a new kind of treatment center in the remote Adirondack wilderness, Arles longs to heal one patient in particular: a 10-year-old boy who has never spoken a word --- or so his mother, Louise, believes.
Hundreds of miles away, Cass Monroe is living a parent’s worst nightmare. His 12-year-old daughter has vanished on her way home from school. With no clues, no witnesses and no trail, the police are at a dead end. Fighting a heart that was already ailing, and struggling to keep both his marriage and himself alive, Cass turns to a pair of true-crime podcasters for help.
Arles, Louise and Cass will soon find their lives entangled in ways none of them could have anticipated. And when the collision occurs, a quarter-century-old secret will be forced out of hiding. Because nothing screams louder than silence.
Audiobook available, read by Sarah Mollo-Christensen
Editorial Content for Queen Macbeth
Book
Contributors
Reviewer (text)
The front cover depicts a red rose framed by thorny branches with bright red blood dripping from the tip of a single thorn. The inside cover states: "Shakespeare fed us the myth of the Macbeths as murderous conspirators. But now Val McDermid drags the truth out of the shadows, exposing the patriarchal prejudices of history. Expect the unexpected…" Read More
Teaser
A thousand years ago in an ancient Scottish landscape, a woman is on the run with her three companions --- a healer, a weaver and a seer. The men hunting her will kill her --- because she is the only one who stands between them and their violent ambition. She is no lady: she is the first queen of Scotland, married to a king called Macbeth. As the net closes in, what unfurls is a tale of passion, forced marriage, bloody massacre and the harsh realities of medieval Scotland. At the heart of it is one strong, charismatic woman, who survived loss and jeopardy to outwit the endless plotting of a string of ruthless and power-hungry men. Her struggle won her a country. But now it could cost her life.
Promo
A thousand years ago in an ancient Scottish landscape, a woman is on the run with her three companions --- a healer, a weaver and a seer. The men hunting her will kill her --- because she is the only one who stands between them and their violent ambition. She is no lady: she is the first queen of Scotland, married to a king called Macbeth. As the net closes in, what unfurls is a tale of passion, forced marriage, bloody massacre and the harsh realities of medieval Scotland. At the heart of it is one strong, charismatic woman, who survived loss and jeopardy to outwit the endless plotting of a string of ruthless and power-hungry men. Her struggle won her a country. But now it could cost her life.
About the Book
Shakespeare created the myth of the Macbeths as indefensible murderous conspirators. But now internationally bestselling author Val McDermid drags the truth out of the shadows, exposing the patriarchal prejudices of history.
Britain’s reigning “Queen of Crime” (The Scotsman), Val McDermid has ensnared audiences worldwide for over 30 years with her thrilling and masterfully plotted crime oeuvre. A radical, rip-roaring counternarrative drawing on the historical record, QUEEN MACBETH delivers an illuminating portrait of Shakespeare’s most famous villain, and the treacherous pursuit of ambition that made her legendary.
A thousand years ago in an ancient Scottish landscape, a woman is on the run with her three companions --- a healer, a weaver and a seer. The men hunting her will kill her --- because she is the only one who stands between them and their violent ambition. She is no lady: she is the first queen of Scotland, married to a king called Macbeth. As the net closes in, what unfurls is a tale of passion, forced marriage, bloody massacre and the harsh realities of medieval Scotland. At the heart of it is one strong, charismatic woman, who survived loss and jeopardy to outwit the endless plotting of a string of ruthless and power-hungry men. Her struggle won her a country. But now it could cost her life.
Immersive and utterly riveting, QUEEN MACBETH is an electric reimagining of one of Shakespeare’s most celebrated tragedies and reaffirms McDermid as one of the preeminent writers of our day.
Audiobook available, read by Lesley Harcourt
Editorial Content for The Life and Death of Rose Doucette
Contributors
Reviewer (text)
Dallas homicide detective “Rose Doucette was a cop’s cop. Despite being headstrong, she was well liked within the department” during a stellar 22-year career. While investigating the dubious suicide of her brother Boyd’s childhood friend, Josh Gannon, she’s suspended. Leaving the verboten crime scene, she is tailed and shot in the head. Her ex, former cop Dylan Fisher, follows the two cars and is bushwhacked. He’s staged as the killer, his fingerprints on the murder weapon. Read More
Teaser
Dallas private investigator Dylan Fisher hasn’t seen his ex-wife, Rose, in three years --- which is why he’s surprised when she asks him to meet her at a hotel. Rose Doucette is a homicide detective, and she wants Dylan’s help with a murder investigation that she’s been asked to step back from but can’t seem to let go. They review the details of the case and part ways --- but as Rose is leaving the parking lot, Dylan sees a suspicious car begin to follow her. He tails the car and tries to warn Rose, but he’s too late --- the driver of the car shoots her, killing her instantly. The police are determined to pin the murder on Dylan, so he’s left with no choice but to find the killer himself. Teaming up with Rose’s widower, the pair dive into Rose’s past to figure out who could’ve wanted to kill the woman they both loved --- and what they were trying to hide.
Promo
Dallas private investigator Dylan Fisher hasn’t seen his ex-wife, Rose, in three years --- which is why he’s surprised when she asks him to meet her at a hotel. Rose Doucette is a homicide detective, and she wants Dylan’s help with a murder investigation that she’s been asked to step back from but can’t seem to let go. They review the details of the case and part ways --- but as Rose is leaving the parking lot, Dylan sees a suspicious car begin to follow her. He tails the car and tries to warn Rose, but he’s too late --- the driver of the car shoots her, killing her instantly. The police are determined to pin the murder on Dylan, so he’s left with no choice but to find the killer himself. Teaming up with Rose’s widower, the pair dive into Rose’s past to figure out who could’ve wanted to kill the woman they both loved --- and what they were trying to hide.
About the Book
Dallas PI Dylan Fisher thought he was done with his ex-wife --- but now he’s solving her murder.
Dallas private investigator Dylan Fisher hasn’t seen his ex-wife, Rose, in three years --- which is why he’s surprised when she asks him to meet her at a hotel. Rose Doucette is a homicide detective, and she wants Dylan’s help with a murder investigation that she’s been asked to step back from but can’t seem to let go.
They review the details of the case and part ways --- but as Rose is leaving the parking lot, Dylan sees a suspicious car begin to follow her. Feeling uneasy, he tails the car and tries to warn Rose, but he’s too late --- the driver of the car shoots her, killing her instantly, before speeding away.
The police are determined to pin the murder on Dylan, so he’s left with no choice but to find the killer himself. Teaming up with Rose’s widower, a defense attorney named Tito, the pair dive into Rose’s past to figure out who could’ve wanted to kill the woman they both loved --- and what they were trying to hide.
Editorial Content for The Woman Who Lied
Book
Contributors
Reviewer (text)
The prologue of Claire Douglas’ new work of psychological suspense is set in London in May 2022. Author Emilia Ward wants to bring an end to her popular mystery/thriller series and plans to kill off her protagonist, Detective Miranda Moody, in the yet-to-be-released final installment, The Last Chapter. Read More
Teaser
Emilia Ward lives in suburban London with her husband, their young son, and a teenager from her first marriage. Emilia is an ordinary mom --- and she’s also the bestselling author of the Miranda Moody detective novels. But when writing her 10th --- and most difficult --- book, life takes a disturbing turn: an incident mimicking the plot of one of her novels occurs in real life. Just an unsettling coincidence, right? Until it happens again. And again. Then someone she knows dies in the same way as a victim in the book she's currently writing. Why is someone doing this? What do they want? How could they possibly know what she’s thinking --- and writing? Is Emilia and her family next?
Promo
Emilia Ward lives in suburban London with her husband, their young son, and a teenager from her first marriage. Emilia is an ordinary mom --- and she’s also the bestselling author of the Miranda Moody detective novels. But when writing her 10th --- and most difficult --- book, life takes a disturbing turn: an incident mimicking the plot of one of her novels occurs in real life. Just an unsettling coincidence, right? Until it happens again. And again. Then someone she knows dies in the same way as a victim in the book she's currently writing. Why is someone doing this? What do they want? How could they possibly know what she’s thinking --- and writing? Is Emilia and her family next?
About the Book
A bestselling detective novelist and her family are in danger when chilling events from her novels begin happening around her in this gripping thriller from the British sensation --- the #1 internationally bestselling author of THE GIRLS WHO DISAPPEARED and THE COUPLE AT NUMBER 9.
Emilia has a dream life. But someone knows the truth.
Emilia Ward lives in suburban London with her husband, their young son, and a teenager from her first marriage. Emilia is an ordinary mom --- and she’s also the bestselling author of the Miranda Moody detective novels.
But when writing her 10th --- and most difficult --- book, life takes a disturbing turn: an incident mimicking the plot of one of her novels occurs in real life. Just an unsettling coincidence, right?
Until it happens again. And again.
Then someone she knows dies in the same way as a victim in the book she's currently writing.
Why is someone doing this?
What do they want?
How could they possibly know what she’s thinking --- and writing?
Is Emilia and her family next?
Audiobook available, read by Ayesha Antoine and Gemma Whelan