Skip to main content

Fall Preview 2015

Fall Preview

Fall Preview 2015

Fall is known as the biggest season of the year for books. The titles that release during this latter part of the year often become holiday gifts, and many are blockbusters. Here are a number of outstanding books that we know people will be talking about over the next few months.

- Click here to see the winners of this year's Fall Preview contests.

After the Wind: Tragedy on Everest --- One Survivor's Story by Lou Kasischke - Memoir


Near the top of Mount Everest, on May 10, 1996, eight climbers died. It was the worst tragedy in the mountain's history. Lou Kasischke was there. AFTER THE WIND tells the harrowing story of what went wrong, as it has never been told before --- including why the climbers were so desperately out of time as the rogue storm struck. His personal story, captured in the title, tells about the intense moments near the top. These moments also revealed the love story that saved his life.

Along the Infinite Sea by Beatriz Williams - Historical Romance


To find a way to take care of herself and the baby she carries, Pepper Schuyler fixes up a beautiful and rare vintage Mercedes and sells it at auction. But the car's new owner, the glamorous Annabelle Dommerich, has her own secrets: a Nazi husband, a Jewish lover, a flight from Europe, and a love so profound it transcends decades. As the many threads of Annabelle's life before the Second World War stretch out to entangle Pepper in 1960s America, and the father of her unborn baby tracks her down, the two women must come together to face down the shadows of their complicated pasts.

Depraved Heart: A Scarpetta Novel by Patricia Cornwell - Thriller


Dr. Kay Scarpetta is working a suspicious death scene in Cambridge, Massachusetts, when an emergency alert sounds on her phone. A video link lands in her text messages and seems to be from her computer genius niece Lucy. But how can it be? It’s clearly a surveillance film of Lucy taken almost 20 years ago. The diabolical presence behind what unfolds seems obvious --- but strangely, not to the FBI. Certainly that’s the message they send when they raid Lucy’s estate and begin building a case that could send her to prison for the rest of her life.

The Drowning by Camilla Läckberg - Mystery/Thriller


Christian Thydell’s dream has come true. His debut novel, The Mermaid, has been published to rave reviews. So why is he as distant and unhappy as ever? When crime writer Erica Falk, who helped Christian discover and develop his talents, learns he has been receiving anonymous threats, she investigates not just the messages but also the young author’s mysterious past. Then, one of Christian’s closet friends, Magnus, goes missing. Erica’s husband, Detective Patrik Hedström, has his worst suspicions confirmed as the mind games aimed at Christian become a disturbing reality.

The Hidden Child by Camilla Läckberg - Psychological Thriller


Crime writer Erica Falck is shocked to discover a Nazi medal among her late mother’s possessions. To uncover her family's past, Erica must read her mother’s wartime diaries. Could what little knowledge she has be enough to endanger her husband and newborn baby? The dark past is coming to light, and no one will escape the truth of how they came to be.

House of Thieves by Charles Belfoure - Historical Fiction

In 1886 New York, a respectable architect shouldn't have any connection to the notorious gang of thieves and killers that rules the underbelly of the city. When John Cross' son racks up an unfathomable gambling debt to Kent's Gents, Cross must pay it back himself. All he has to do is use his inside knowledge of high society mansions and museums to craft a robbery even the smartest detectives won't solve. But Cross' entire life has become a balancing act, and it will only take one mistake for it all to come crashing down --- and for his family to go down too.

Keeper's Reach: A Sharpe & Donovan Novel by Carla Neggers - Romantic Suspense


Emma Sharpe and Colin Donovan, two of the FBI's most valuable agents, are preparing for their next big assignment --- their wedding --- when Colin's brother Mike alerts them that onetime friends from his military past are on Sharpe and Donovan's home turf on the Maine coast. Now private security contractors, they want to meet with Mike. One of them, an FBI agent named Kavanagh, is supposed to be on leave. What is he investigating --- or does he have his own agenda?

Killers by Howie Carr - Thriller


Bench McCarthy is a thug's thug, a hitman, an underworld jack-of-all-trades running his own mob out of Winter Hill in Somerville while simultaneously handling "wet work" for Sally Curto, a half-demented, totally obscene mob boss. After years of gangland peace, Bench and Sally suddenly find themselves clay pigeons for unknown hit crews coming at them from every direction. The motives are as murky as the hitmen themselves, but all roads seem to lead back to the State House, where corrupt pols are battling over a bill to legalize billions of dollars' worth of new casinos.

The Last September by Nina de Gramont - Psychological Thriller


Brett had been in love with Charlie from the day she laid eyes on him in college. When Charlie is found murdered, Brett is devastated. But if she is honest with herself, their marriage had been hanging by a thread for quite some time. Though all clues point to Charlie’s brother Eli, who’s been in and out of psychiatric hospitals for years, any number of people might have been driven to slit the throat of Charlie Moss --- a handsome, charismatic man who unwittingly damaged almost every life he touched. Brett is determined to understand how such a tragedy could have happened --- and if she was somehow complicit.

The Last Midwife by Sandra Dallas - Historical Mystery


It is 1880, and Gracy Brookens is the only midwife in a small Colorado mining town where she has delivered hundreds, maybe thousands, of babies in her lifetime. The women of Swandyke trust and depend on Gracy, and most couldn't imagine getting through pregnancy and labor without her by their sides. But everything changes when a baby is found dead...and the evidence points to Gracy as the murderer. She didn't commit the crime, but clearing her name isn't so easy when her innocence is not quite as simple, either.

Lost Ocean: An Inky Adventure & Coloring Book by Johanna Basford - Art/Crafts & Hobbies


With LOST OCEAN, Johanna Basford invites color-inners of all ages to discover an enchanting underwater world hidden in the depths of the sea. Through intricate pen and ink illustrations to complete, color and embellish, readers will meet shoals of exotic fish, curious octopi and delicately penned seahorses. Visit coral reefs and barnacle-studded shipwrecks, discover intricate shells and pirate treasure.

Playing with Fire by Tess Gerritsen - Thriller


In a shadowy antiques shop in Rome, violinist Julia Ansdell happens upon a curious piece of music --- the Incendio waltz --- and is immediately entranced by its unusual composition. Back home in Boston, from the moment Julia’s bow moves across the strings, drawing the waltz’s fiery notes into the air, something strange is stirred. The music has a terrifying and inexplicable effect on her young daughter, who seems violently transformed. Convinced that the hypnotic strains of Incendio are weaving a malevolent spell, Julia sets out to discover the man and the meaning behind the score.

Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter - Psychological Thriller


More than 20 years ago, Claire and Lydia’s teenaged sister, Julia, vanished without a trace. The two women have not spoken since, and now their lives could not be more different. But neither has recovered from the horror and heartbreak of their shared loss --- a devastating wound that's cruelly ripped open when Claire's husband is killed. The surviving sisters look to the past to find the truth, unearthing the secrets that destroyed their family all those years ago…and uncovering the possibility of redemption, and revenge, where they least expect it.

The Same Sky by Amanda Eyre Ward - Fiction


Alice and her husband, Jake, have a loving marriage and thriving business, but Alice still feels that something is missing. Carla is a strong-willed young girl who is acting as caretaker to her six-year-old brother, Junior. Years ago, her mother left the family behind in Honduras to make the arduous, illegal journey to Texas. But when her grandmother dies, Carla takes fate into her own hands. The lives of Alice and Carla will intersect in a profound and surprising way.

Twain's End by Lynn Cullen - Historical Fiction


In TWAIN'S END, Lynn Cullen reimagines the tangled relationships between Mark Twain, his private secretary Isabel V. Lyon, and his business manager Ralph Ashcroft, as well as the little-known love triangle between Helen Keller, her teacher Anne Sullivan Macy, and Anne’s husband John Macy, which comes to light during their visit to Twain’s Connecticut home in 1909. Add to the party a furious Clara Clemens, smarting from her own failed love affair, and carefully kept veneers shatter.

Vanessa and Her Sister by Priya Parmar - Historical Fiction

London, 1905: The city is alight with change, and the Stephen siblings are at the forefront. Vanessa, Virginia, Thoby and Adrian are leaving behind their childhood home and taking a house in the leafy heart of avant-garde Bloomsbury. There they bring together a glittering circle of bright, outrageous, artistic friends who will grow into legend and come to be known as the Bloomsbury Group. And at the center of this charmed circle are the devoted, gifted sisters: Vanessa, the painter, and Virginia, the writer.

You're the Best: A Celebration of Friendship by The Satellite Sisters - Essays


The Satellite Sisters have turned their focus to one of the most important relationships in our lives --- our friends, our Satellite Sisters, the women (and men) we call when the best thing in your life happens, or the worst. With their trademark empathy, intelligence and humor, YOU'RE THE BEST is a collection of essays and writings about life, love, family, play and change. Its contributors include both the Satellite Sisters and the Next Generation (nieces, daughters, daughters-in-law), covering how friendships influence choices, relationships, careers, adventures and inevitable changes.