In 1998, an Alku, Minnesota, family of five was brutally murdered in their sleep. The event shook the insulated community but, without any solid leads, was relegated to the cold case files, where it moldered for 25 years. Until today. Agent Harry Steinbeck hoped never to return to the northland, a place that holds terrible memories of his sister’s abduction. But when a recent homicide is connected to Alku’s unsolved mass murder, he and cold case agent Evangeline Reed have no choice but to investigate. The case grows impossibly darker as, one by one, the children of Alku begin disappearing. Harry and Van can’t shake the sensation that someone is watching every move they make --- and the elusive killer’s trail leads to a truth more sinister than either imagined.
Amelia Collins is tired of the constant questions from her family about her nonexistent dating life. When an invitation to yet another family wedding arrives, she decides to get everyone off her back once and for all by finding someone --- anyone --- to pose as her date. After a chance encounter with Reginald Cleaves, Amelia decides he's perfect for her purposes. For centuries-old vampire Reggie, posing as her plus-one sounds like the ultimate fun. And if it helps his ruse of pretending to be human, so much the better. As Amelia and Reggie practice their fauxmance, it becomes clear that Reggie is as loyal to her as the day is long, and that Amelia’s first impressions could not have been more wrong. Suddenly, being in a real relationship with Reggie sounds pretty fang-tastic.
Dating as a plus-size woman has been exhausting for Haleigh Berkshire. It doesn't help that she's been madly in love with her best friend, Jack, for years. But one disastrous weekend in college taught her the hard way that they'll never be more than friends. With her sister's engagement celebration fast approaching, and her friends and family nagging her about a plus-one, Haleigh and Jack do what they do best: scheme. Haleigh agrees to let her friends and family set her up with 10 people --- and she's sure that, once none of them prove to be good matches, her loved ones will finally let her fade into romantic retirement in peace. To her surprise, some of Haleigh’s dates go better than expected, and she's actually having fun for the first time in forever. Until Jack starts breaking all the rules they’d made to mend their friendship in college.
In 11 stories, THE WORLD WITH ITS MOUTH OPEN follows the inner lives of people in Kashmir as they walk the uncertain terrain of their days, fractured from years of war. From a shopkeeper’s encounter with a mannequin, to an expectant mother walking on a precarious road, to a young boy wavering between dreams and reality, to two dogs wandering the city, these stories weave in larger, devastating themes of loss, grief, violence, longing and injustice with the threads of smaller, everyday realities that confront the characters’ lives in profound ways. Although the stories circle the darker aspects of life, they are --- at the same time --- an attempt to run into life, into humor, into beauty, into another person who can offer refuge, if momentarily.
First glimpsed riding on the back of a boy’s motorcycle, 14-year-old Czeslawa comes to life in this mesmerizing novel by Lily Tuck, who imagines her upbringing in a small Polish village before her world imploded in late 1942. Stripped of her modest belongings, shorn, and tattooed number 26947 on arriving at Auschwitz, Czeslawa is then photographed. Three months later, she is dead. How did this happen to an ordinary Polish citizen? This is the question that Tuck grapples with in THE REST IS MEMORY, which frames Czeslawa’s story within the epic tragedy of six million Poles who perished during the German occupation.
Ted Molloy has hit his stride with a foreclosure investment scheme that brings him into contact with a cast of shady characters across New York’s most diverse borough. On the side, he helps his activist girlfriend, Kenzie, with her work to halt construction on “the Spike” --- a corporate-backed development project in Corona that would displace the largely immigrant communities surrounding it. Kenzie fends off smear campaigns and tours community spaces in Queens to spread the word, which she can do thanks to Mohammed, a recent Yemeni immigrant and most expedient cab driver. But when Kenzie learns that Mohammed’s immigration lawyer may be taking advantage of him financially, she decides to snoop around at the law offices --- and comes face to face with a dead body and a shadowy figure, fleeing the scene.
Detective Peter Diamond is taking a short holiday. His former colleague, Julie Hargreaves, has invited Diamond and his partner, Paloma, to visit the idyllic village of Baskerville. The woman who owns the village’s largest dairy farm has been convicted of manslaughter following a terrible accident in her grain silo. Julie’s ex-investigator instinct tells her there has been a miscarriage of justice and a murderer is on the loose. But Julie has been keeping secrets of her own and can’t take her inquiry any further. Diamond takes the bait. The case is a fascinating one, but maintaining his innocent tourist facade becomes harder as he closes in on his suspects. AGAINST THE GRAIN is the conclusion to the Peter Diamond series --- and Peter Lovesey’s final book.
The body of a young man is found floating in Tokyo Bay. But his death was no accident; Ryota Uetsuji was shot. He'd been reported missing the week before by his live-in girlfriend, Sonoka Shimauchi. But when detectives from the Homicide Squad go to interview her, she is nowhere to be found. When they learn that she was the victim of domestic abuse, they presume she was the killer. But her alibi is airtight; she was hours away in Kyoto when Ryota disappeared, forcing Detectives Kusanagi and Utsumi to restart their investigation. But if Sonoko didn't kill her abusive lover, then who did? A thin thread of association leads them to their old consultant, brilliant physicist Manabu Yukawa, known in the department as "Detective Galileo." With Sonoko still missing, the detectives investigate other threads of association.
Madeline Brimley left small town Georgia many years ago to go to college and pursue her dreams on the stage. But then she gets word that not only has her beloved, eccentric Aunt Rose passed, she's left Madeline her equally eccentric bookstore housed in an old Victorian mansion in the small college town of Enigma. When she arrives to claim The Old Juniper Bookstore and restart her life, Madeline is faced with unexpected challenges. The gazebo in the backyard is set ablaze, and a late-night caller threatens to burn the whole store down if she doesn't leave immediately. But Madeline ignores the threats and soldiers on. Until there's another fire and a murder in the store itself. Now with a cloud of suspicion falling over her, it's up to Madeline to untangle the skein of secrets and find the killer before she herself is the next victim.
Dalinar Kholin challenged the evil god Odium to a contest of champions with the future of Roshar on the line. But the sudden ascension of the crafty and ruthless Taravangian to take Odium’s place has thrown everything into disarray. The former assassin Szeth must cleanse his homeland of Shinovar from the dark influence of the Unmade. He is accompanied by Kaladin, who faces a new battle helping Szeth fight his own demons…and who must do the same for the insane Herald of the Almighty, Ishar. At the same time, Shallan, Renarin and Rlain work to unravel the mystery behind the Unmade Ba-Ado-Mishram and her involvement in the enslavement of the singer race and in the ancient Knights Radiant killing their spren. And Dalinar and Navani seek an edge against Odium’s champion that can be found only in the Spiritual Realm, where memory and possibility combine in chaos.
Tell us about the books you’ve finished reading with your comments and a rating of 1 to 5 stars. During the contest period from August 8th to August 22nd at noon ET, three lucky readers each will be randomly chosen to win a copy of KISS HER GOODBYE by Lisa Gardner and THE LOST BAKER OF VIENNA by Sharon Kurtzman.
Our major goal for 2025 is to redesign Bookreporter and the rest of the sites in The Book Report Network. How can you help? We have launched a GoFundMe campaign and are asking for donations. Any level of donation that you would be comfortable with is sincerely appreciated. If you would prefer donating via check, please send to:
The Book Report, Inc.
16 Mt. Bethel Road, Suite 365
Warren, NJ 07059
Click here to read more about our plans and to donate.
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.