General Omar Bradley said of him, “I have never known a braver man or a more devoted soldier.” But for much of his life, Theodore Roosevelt’s son Ted seemed born to live in his father’s shadow. In the First World War, Ted braved gunfire and gas attacks in France to lead his unit into battle. Yet even after returning home a hero, he was unable to meet the expectations of a public that wanted a man just like his father. Then, with World War II looming, Ted reenlisted. In his mid-50s, with a gimpy leg and a heart condition, he was well past his prime, but his insistence to be in the thick of combat proved a vital asset. HIS FATHER’S SON delves into the life of a man as courageous, colorful and unwavering as any of the Roosevelt clan.
Thomas McNulty, aged barely 17 and having fled the Great Famine in Ireland, signs up for the U.S. Army in the 1850s. With his brother in arms, John Cole, Thomas goes on to fight in the Indian Wars --- against the Sioux and the Yurok --- and, ultimately, the Civil War. Orphans of terrible hardships themselves, the men find these days to be vivid and alive, despite the horrors they see and are complicit in.
A former Delta Force commander, author Brad Taylor has lived in the world about which he writes, and his novels have tackled very real and current threats ranging from ISIS to Chechen terrorists to Boko Haram. In his latest action-packed thriller, RING OF FIRE, a chilling terrorist plot is about to unfold in the United States --- one involving simultaneous attacks across multiple locations in America --- and it’ll be up to Pike Logan, Jennifer Cahill and the Taskforce to prevent the threat from becoming a terrifying reality.
PEOPLE KNITTING is a charming tribute in vintage photographs and printed ephemera to the ever-popular, often all-consuming, craft of knitting. When women posed with their knitting in the earliest 19th-century photographs, it demonstrated their virtue and skill as homemakers. Later, knitting became fashionable among the wealthy as a sign of culture and artistic ability. During the two world wars, images of nurses, soldiers, prisoners and even knitting clubs composed of very serious small boys --- all with heads bent down, intent on knitting items (especially socks) for the troops --- abounded. In the 1950s and 1960s, as snapshots became ubiquitous, knitters took on a jauntier air, posing with handiwork held proudly aloft.
Newly ensconced in his Santa Fe abode with a lovely female companion, Stone Barrington receives a call from an old friend requesting a delicate favor. A situation has arisen that could escalate into an explosive quagmire, and only someone with Stone’s stealth and subtlety can contain the damage. At the center of these events is an impressive gentleman whose star is on the rise and who would like to get Stone in his corner. He is charming and ambitious and has friends in high places --- the kind of man who seems to be a sure bet. But in the fickle circles of power, fortunes rise and fall on the turn of a dime, and it may turn out that Stone holds the key not just to one man’s fate, but to the fate of the nation.
Eight years ago, Sharlah May Nash’s older brother beat their drunken father to death with a baseball bat in order to save both of their lives. Now 13 years old, Sharlah has finally moved on. About to be adopted by retired FBI profiler Pierce Quincy and his partner, Rainie Conner, Sharlah loves one thing best about her new family: They are all experts on monsters. Then the call comes in. A double murder at a local gas station, followed by reports of an armed suspect shooting his way through the wilds of Oregon. As Quincy and Rainie race to assist, they are forced to confront mounting evidence: The shooter may very well be Sharlah’s older brother, and it appears his killing spree has only just begun.
Evidence is mounting that someone high up in the CIA is passing messages to ISIS, alerting them to planned operations. Finding out the mole’s identity without alerting him will be very hard, and to accomplish it, John Wells will have to do something he thought he’d left behind forever. He will have to reassume his former identity as an al Qaeda jihadi, get captured, and go undercover to befriend an ISIS prisoner in a secret Bulgarian prison. Many years before, Wells was the only American agent ever to penetrate al Qaeda, but times have changed drastically. He knows it may well be his death sentence. But there is no one else.
When young lawyer Lily marries Ed, she’s determined to make a fresh start and leave the secrets of the past behind. But then she takes on her first murder case and meets Joe, a convicted murderer to whom she is strangely drawn and for whom she will soon be willing to risk almost anything. Lily is not the only one with secrets, however. Her next-door neighbor Carla may be only nine, but she already has learned that secrets are powerful things. When Lily finds Carla on her doorstep 16 years later, a chain of events is set in motion that can end only one way.
On her first day as a newly minted homicide detective, Sarah “Salt” Alt is given the cold-case murder of a blues musician whose death was originally ruled an accidental drug overdose. Now new evidence has come to light that he may have been given a hot dose intentionally. And this evidence comes from a convicted felon hoping to trade his knowledge for shortened prison time --- a man who Salt herself put behind bars. In a search that will take her into the depths of Atlanta’s buried wounds, Salt probes her way toward the truth in a case that has more at stake than she ever could have imagined.
A young woman named Amanda lies dying in a rural hospital clinic. A boy named David sits beside her. She’s not his mother. He's not her child. Together, they tell a haunting story of broken souls, toxins, and the power and desperation of family. FEVER DREAM is a nightmare come to life, a ghost story for the real world, a love story and a cautionary tale.
We have listed 12 of Carol’s Bookreporter.com Bets On picks that are now or soon to be in paperback. Which of these books have you read or do you plan to read? Please check all that apply.
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Coming Soon
Curious about what books will be released in the months ahead so you can pre-order or reserve them? Then click on the months below.
August's Books on Screen roundup includes the films The Thursday Murder Club, My Oxford Year and Night Always Comes on Netflix, the Providence Falls trilogy on Hallmark, The Map That Leads to You on Prime Video, and She Rides Shotgun in theaters; the conclusion of "And Just Like That..." on HBO Max and "The Institute" on MGM+; the series premieres of "Outlander: Blood of My Blood" on STARZ and "The Terminal List: Dark Wolf" on Prime Video; the season premieres of "The Marlow Murder Club" on PBS "Masterpiece" and "My Life with the Walter Boys" on Netflix; and the DVD/Blu-ray releases of The King of Kings and How to Train Your Dragon.