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Interview: Mike Maden, author of Clive Cussler Ghost Soldier: A Novel of the Oregon Files

Sep 5, 2024

In CLIVE CUSSLER GHOST SOLDIER: A Novel of the Oregon Files, the pulse-pounding new adventure in the #1 New York Times bestselling series, Juan Cabrillo and the crew of the Oregon have finally met their match. In this interview conducted by Michael Barson, Senior Publicity Executive at Melville House and Clive Cussler’s primary publicist at G.P. Putnam’s Sons from 1999 to 2015, Mike Maden talks about taking on the Oregon Files series for Cussler's estate and the feedback he has received from fans of these explosive thrillers. He also explains why he thinks some aspects of modern technology are having a negative impact on the publishing industry and, in particular, emerging writers.

2024 Anthony Awards

The 2024 Anthony Awards were announced at the Bouchercon World Mystery Convention, which took place this year in Nashville. The award is named for the late Anthony Boucher, the distinguished mystery fiction critic, editor and author, who helped found Mystery Writers of America.

September 3, 2024

In this newsletter, you will find books releasing the weeks of September 2nd and September 9th 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 New Release Spotlight of SPIRIT CROSSING, which is a New York Times and USA Today bestseller. It will be a Bookreporter.com Bets On selection, and we are happy to share our review now. A disappearance and a dead body put Cork O’Connor’s family in the crosshairs of a killer in this 20th installment of William Kent Krueger­'s bestselling mystery series.

Week of September 23, 2024

Paperback releases for the week of September 23rd include THE ARMOR OF LIGHT, the long-awaited sequel to Ken Follett's A COLUMN OF FIRE, which heralds a new dawn for Kingsbridge, England, where progress clashes with tradition, class struggles push into every part of society, and war in Europe engulfs the entire continent and beyond; THE NIGHT HOUSE, Jo Nesbø's first-ever horror novel, which revolves around a young man who disappears when a telephone booth sucks him into the receiver; BROOKLYN CRIME NOVEL by Jonathan Lethem, a sweeping story of community, crime and gentrification, tracing more than 50 years of life in one Brooklyn neighborhood; and CHENNEVILLE, a fearless novel from Paulette Jiles about a man who, consumed with grief and driven by vengeance, undertakes an unrelenting odyssey across the lawless post–Civil War frontier seeking redemption.

Week of September 16, 2024

Paperback releases for the week of September 16th include ASTOR, an unconventional, page-turning historical biography in which Anderson Cooper and Katherine Howe chronicle the lives of the Astors and explore what the Astor name has come to mean in America --- offering a window onto the making of America itself; THE LEFTOVER WOMAN by Jean Kwok, an evocative family drama and a riveting mystery about the ferocious pull of motherhood for two very different women; ABOMINATIONS, a striking collection of essays from novelist, cultural observer and social satirist Lionel Shriver; WANDERING THROUGH LIFE, an eye-opening memoir by Donna Leon, who, in a series of vignettes full of affection, irony and good humor, narrates a remarkable life she feels has rather more happened to her than been planned; and COLEMAN HILL by Kim Coleman Foote, the exhilarating story of two American families whose fates become intertwined in the wake of the Great Migration.

Week of September 9, 2024

Paperback releases for the week of September 9th include CLASS, Stephanie Land's gripping follow-up memoir to her New York Times bestseller, MAID, where she takes readers with her as she finishes college and pursues her writing career; David Baldacci's edge-of-your-seat thriller, THE EDGE, which marks the return of the 6:20 Man, Travis Devine, who is dropped by his handlers into a small coastal town in Maine to solve the murder of a CIA agent who knew America’s dirtiest secrets; THE MUSEUM OF FAILURES, a powerful story from Thrity Umrigar about family secrets, a mother's power and the importance of forgiveness; SCATTERSHOT, the evocative, clear-eyed and revealing memoir of Bernie Taupin, the lyrical master and long-time collaborator of Elton John; and THE LIST by Yomi Adegoke, a sensational, page-turning debut novel in which a high-profile female journalist’s world is upended when her fiancé’s name turns up in a viral social media post.

Week of September 2, 2024

Paperback releases for the week of September 2nd include HOLLY, a thrilling novel that marks the return of Stephen King’s most compelling and ingeniously resourceful characters, Holly Gibney, who must uncover the gruesome truth behind multiple disappearances in a midwestern town; THE FRAUD by Zadie Smith, a kaleidoscopic work of historical fiction set against the legal trial that divided Victorian England, about who gets to tell their story --- and who gets to be believed; Jesmyn Ward's LET US DESCEND, a haunting masterpiece about an enslaved girl in the years before the Civil War; GOOD BAD GIRL, a drama-filled and surprising thriller from Alice Feeney in which nobody can be trusted and the twists come fast and furious; and WHILE YOU WERE OUT, Meg Kissinger's searing memoir of a family besieged by mental illness, as well as an incisive exploration of the systems that failed them and a testament to the love that sustained them.

September 2024

September's Books on Screen roundup includes the series premieres of "The Perfect Couple" on Netflix, "Three Women" on STARZ, and "The Chicken Sisters" on Hallmark+; the season premieres of HBO's "My Brilliant Friend," AMC's "The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon – The Book of Carol," Apple TV+'s "Slow Horses," and Hulu's "Tell Me Lies"; the conclusion of "Snowpiercer" on AMC; the season finale of MGM+'s "Emperor of Ocean Park"; the continuation of "Pachinko" and "Bad Monkey" on Apple TV+; and the films The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry and The Thicket.

Anna Marie Tendler, author of Men Have Called Her Crazy: A Memoir

In early 2021, popular artist Anna Marie Tendler checked herself into a psychiatric hospital following a year of crippling anxiety, depression and self-harm. Over two weeks, she underwent myriad psychological tests, participated in numerous therapy sessions, connected with fellow patients and experienced profound breakthroughs. In MEN HAVE CALLED HER CRAZY, Tendler recounts her hospital experience, as well as pivotal moments in her life that preceded and followed. As the title suggests, many of these moments are impacted by men --- unrequited love in high school; the 28-year-old she lost her virginity to when she was 16; the frustrations and absurdities of dating in her mid-30s; and her decision to freeze her eggs as all her friends were starting families.

Silvia Moreno-Garcia, author of The Seventh Veil of Salome

1950s Hollywood: Every actress wants to play Salome, the star-making role in a big-budget movie about the legendary woman whose story has inspired artists since ancient times. So when the film’s mercurial director casts Vera Larios, an unknown Mexican ingenue, in the lead role, she quickly becomes the talk of the town. Vera also becomes an object of envy for Nancy Hartley, a bit player who will do anything to win the fame she believes she richly deserves. Two actresses, both determined to make it to the top in Golden Age Hollywood, make for a sizzling combination. But this is the tale of three women, for it is also the story of the princess Salome herself, consumed with desire for the fiery prophet who foretells the doom of her stepfather, Herod: a woman torn between the decree of duty and the yearning of her heart.