K. is possessed of a hyper-articulate exasperation with the world, a doomed truth teller whom everyone misunderstands. After his wife Sarah dies, K. loses his metaphorical capacity, becoming so wedded to the notion of clarity that he infuriates everyone, friends and strangers alike. When he intervenes in an armed robbery, K. finds himself both an inadvertent hero and the star of a new reality television program. Together with Claire, a grocery store clerk with a sharp tongue and a yen for celebrity, he travels the country, ruffling feathers and gaining fame at the intersection of American politics and entertainment. But soon he discovers that the world will fight viciously to preserve its delusions about itself.
A 12-year-old boy, his older brother and their father have won the war: the father’s term for his bitter divorce and custody battle. They leave their Kansas home and drive through the night to Albuquerque, eager to begin again, united by the thrilling possibility of carving out a new life together. The boys go to school, join basketball teams and make friends. Meanwhile, their father works from home, smoking cheap cigars to hide another smell. But soon the little missteps --- the dead-eyed absentmindedness, the late night noises, the comings and goings of increasingly odd characters --- become worrisome, and the boys find themselves watching their father change, grow erratic, then dangerous.
Marina Willett, M.D., has a problem. Her husband, Charlie, has become obsessed with H.P. Lovecraft, in particular with one episode in the legendary horror writer's life. In the summer of 1934, the "old gent" lived for two months with a gay teenage fan named Robert Barlow, at Barlow's family home in central Florida. What were the two of them up to? Were they friends --- or something more? Just when Charlie thinks he's solved the puzzle, a new scandal erupts, and he disappears. The police say it's suicide. Marina is a psychiatrist, and she doesn't believe them.
Cybersecurity expert Roger McGeary finally has his life back on track after years of struggling with depression. But when he falls from the balcony of his suite on an all-expenses-paid cruise, the police quickly dismiss it as “death by misadventure,” a vague phrase leaving much to interpretation. Unsatisfied, Roger’s tough-as-nails aunt, Julia Miller, is determined to find answers and closure. By contacting Roger’s childhood friend, Stuart Ramey, to help her solve the mystery of his fate, Julia unwittingly sets up a collision course with a serial killer. Stuart, his sidekick Cami Lee, and journalist turned amateur sleuth Ali Reynolds put the full resources of cutting-edge online security firm High Noon Enterprises into learning the truth about Roger’s death.
Amber Bryant and Tyler Hicks have been best friends since they were teenagers, trusting and depending on each other through some of the darkest periods of their young lives. And while Amber has always felt that their relationship is strictly platonic, Tyler has long harbored the secret desire that they might one day become more than friends. Returning home for the summer after her college graduation, Amber begins spending more time with Tyler than she has in years. Despite the fact that Amber is engaged to her college sweetheart, a flirtation begins to grow between them. One night, fueled by alcohol and concerns about whether she’s getting married too young, Amber kisses Tyler. What happens next will change them forever.
Having been abandoned on the steps of an orphanage as an infant, lovable car thief and Dublin charmer Mahony assumed all his life that his mother had simply given him up. But when he receives an anonymous note suggesting that foul play may have led to his mother’s disappearance, he sees only one option: to return to the rural Irish village where he was born and find out what really happened 26 years ago. Determined to uncover the truth, Mahony solicits the help of brash anarchist and retired theater actress Mrs. Cauley. This improbable duo concocts an ingenious plan to get the town talking about the day Mahony's mother disappeared and are aided and abetted by a cast of eccentric characters, both living and dead.
She was a forgotten girl, a runaway found murdered on the High Line train through the northern Rocky Mountains and, with little local interest, put into a dead file. But she was not alone. When Kirk Stevens and Carla Windermere of the joint FBI-BCA violent crime force stumble upon the case, they discover a horror far greater than anyone expected --- a string of murders on the High Line, all of them young female drifters whom no one would notice. But someone has noticed now. Through the bleak midwinter and a frontier land of forbidding geography, Stevens and Windermere follow a frustratingly light trail of clues --- and where it ends, even they will be shocked.
A masked man with a gun enters a sandwich shop in broad daylight, and Meredith Oliver suddenly finds herself ordered to the filthy floor, where she cowers face to face with her nemesis, Lisa Bellow. The minutes tick by inexorably, and Meredith lurches between comforting the sobbing Lisa and imagining her own impending death. Then the man orders Lisa to stand and come with him, leaving Meredith the girl left behind. After Lisa’s abduction, Meredith spends most days in her room. As the community stages vigils and searches, Claire, Meredith’s mother, is torn between relief that her daughter is alive, and helplessness over her inability to protect or even comfort her child. Her daughter is here, but not.
When Rina Decker stumbles upon human remains once buried deep beneath the forest grounds, she calls her husband, Peter, who works for the local Greenbury Police. As Decker and his partner, Tyler McAdams, further investigate, they realize that they’re most likely dealing with a missing student from the nearby Five Colleges of Upstate, which is where Rina works. Short-staffed and with no convenient entry into the colleges, Decker enlists Rina’s help to act as the eyes and ears of campus gossip. Winding their way through a dangerous labyrinth of steely suspects and untouchable academics, Decker, McAdams and Rina race to protect their community from a psychopathic killer still in the area --- and on the hunt for a fresh victim.
When radio personality Gail Gideon’s husband announced that he wanted a divorce, her ensuing on-air rant propelled her local radio show into the national spotlight. But fame comes at a price. After all, what does a woman who has staked her career on being single do when she finds herself falling in love? And is the person who is harassing her a misguided fan or a true danger to Gail and her daughter, Nic? Plagued by a fear of social situations, 14-year-old Nic is most comfortable at the stable where she spends her afternoons. But when a riding accident lands Nic in the hospital, she awakens from her coma changed. She suddenly has no fear at all, and her disconcerting behavior lands her in one risky situation after another.
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 21st to September 11th at noon ET, three lucky readers each will be randomly chosen to win a copy of BIG LITTLE TRUTHS by Liane Moriarty and THE BIRTHING TREE by Amanda Peters.
Our major goal for 2026 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 series premieres of "The Shards" on FX and FX on Hulu and "Anna Pigeon" on USA Network; the season premieres of Prime Video's "Reacher," Apple TV's "Dark Matter," and Netflix's "One Hundred Years of Solitude"; the films The Whisper Man, The Dog Stars and Tony; the series finale of "Lucky" on Apple TV; the season finale of HBO's "House of the Dragon"; the continuation of "The Walking Dead: Dead City" on AMC and "Silo" on Apple TV; and the DVD/Blu-ray releases of Project Hail Mary and The Get Out.