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Week of January 25, 2016

New in Paperback

Week of January 25, 2016

Paperback releases for the week of January 25th include GOD HELP THE CHILD, the first book by Toni Morrison to be set in our current moment, a tale about the way the sufferings of childhood can shape --- and misshape --- the life of the adult; SPEAKING IN BONES by Kathy Reichs, in which forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan finds herself drawn into a world of dark secrets and dangerous beliefs, where good and evil blur; DEVOTED IN DEATH, the 41st installment in J. D. Robb's In Death series, in which Lieutenant Eve Dallas tracks a young couple whose heated passion for each other is fueled by cold brutality; and HUCK FINN’S AMERICA, award-winning biographer Andrew Levy's investigation into Mark Twain’s writing of HUCKLEBERRY FINN, which turns on its head everything we thought we knew about America’s favorite icon of childhood.

The American Lover by Rose Tremain - Fiction/Short Stories

January 25, 2016


Trapped in a London apartment, Beth remembers a transgressive love affair in 1960s Paris. The most famous writer in Russia takes his last breath in a stationmaster’s cottage, miles from Moscow. A young woman who is about to marry a rich aristocrat instead begins a torrid relationship with a construction worker. A father, finally free of his daughter’s demands, embarks on a long swim from his Canadian lakeside retreat. And in the grandest house of all, Danni the Polish housekeeper catches the eye of an enigmatic visitor, Daphne du Maurier.

Band of Giants: The Amateur Soldiers Who Won America's Independence by Jack Kelly - History

January 26, 2016


BAND OF GIANTS brings to life the founders who fought for our independence in the Revolutionary War. Here, Jack Kelly captures the fraught condition of the war --- the bitterly divided populace, the lack of supplies, the repeated setbacks on the battlefield, and the appalling physical hardships. That these inexperienced warriors could take on and defeat the superpower of the day was one of the most remarkable feats in world history.

Blood Infernal: The Order of the Sanguines Series by James Rollins and Rebecca Cantrell - Thriller/Adventure

January 26, 2016


With THE BLOOD GOSPEL, James Rollins and Rebecca Cantrell combined science, myth and religion to introduce a breathtaking world where miracles hold new meaning and the fight for good over evil is far more complicated than we ever dreamed. And now, in this epic conclusion to the Order of the Sanguines trilogy, they take us to the very pit of Hell itself, making us peer into the abyss and face our greatest fears, to answer the ultimate question: What price will we pay for true salvation?

The Devil's Bag Man by Adam Mansbach - Supernatural Thriller/Adventure

January 26, 2016


Locked in a Mexican jail for a crime he didn’t commit, Jess Galvan made a devil’s bargain to escape and make it back home. He’s now trapped in his own personal hell, his mind and body inhabited by the soul of Cucuy, a fearsome, 500-year-old Aztec priest and major crime kingpin determined to bring about hell on earth. Estranged from his daughter, Sherry, and now his own body, Galvan’s every moment is a battle to keep the evil priest at bay. He must find a way to exorcise his inner demon and save the world from annihilation.

Devoted in Death by J. D. Robb - Thriller

January 26, 2016


Ella-Loo and her boyfriend, Darryl, hit the road now that Darryl’s sentence has been served. When their car breaks down, they make plans to take someone else’s. Then things get messy, and they wind up killing someone --- an experience that stokes a fierce, wild desire in Ella-Loo. A desire for Darryl. And a desire to kill again. With her husband, Roarke, at her side, Lieutenant Eve Dallas has every intention of hunting these two down and giving them what they truly deserve.

Double Fudge Brownie Murder: A Hannah Swensen Mystery with Recipes! by Joanne Fluke - Mystery

January 26, 2016


Hannah Swensen is nervous about the upcoming trial for her involvement in a tragic accident. She's eager to clear her name once and for all, but her troubles only double when she finds the judge bludgeoned to death with his own gavel --- and Hannah is the number one suspect. Now on trial in the court of public opinion, she sets out in search of the culprit and discovers that the judge made more than a few enemies during his career.

Five by Ursula Archer - Psychological Thriller/Mystery

January 26, 2016


A woman’s corpse is discovered in a meadow, and a strange combination of letters and numbers has been tattooed on the soles of her feet. Detective inspector Beatrice Kaspary from the local murder squad quickly identifies the digits as map coordinates. These lead to a series of gruesome discoveries as she and her colleague, Florin Wenninger, embark on a bloody trail --- a modern-day scavenger hunt using GPS navigation devices to locate hidden caches.

Glow by Ned Beauman - Fiction

January 26, 2016


Twenty-two-year-old Raf spends his days walking Rose, a bull terrier who guards the transmitters for a pirate radio station, and his nights at raves in warehouses and launderettes. When his friend Theo vanishes without a trace, Raf’s efforts to find him will lead straight into the heart of a global corporate conspiracy. Meanwhile, he’s falling in love with a beautiful young woman he met at one of those raves, but he’ll soon discover that there is far more to Cherish than meets the eye.

God Help the Child by Toni Morrison - Fiction

January 26, 2016


At the center of Toni Morrison’s first novel to be set in our current moment is a young woman who calls herself Bride, whose stunning blue-black skin caused her light-skinned mother to deny her even the simplest forms of love. There’s also Booker, the man Bride loves but loses to anger; Rain, the mysterious white child with whom she crosses paths; and Bride’s mother, Sweetness, who takes a lifetime to come to understand that “what you do to children matters. And they might never forget.”

Huck Finn's America: Mark Twain and the Era That Shaped His Masterpiece by Andrew Levy - Literary Criticism

January 26, 2016


Award-winning biographer Andrew Levy shows how modern readers have been misunderstanding HUCKLEBERRY FINN for decades. Mark Twain’s masterpiece is often discussed either as a carefree adventure story for children or a serious novel about race relations, yet Levy argues it is neither. Instead, HUCK FINN was written at a time when Americans were nervous about youth violence and “uncivilized” bad boys, and a debate was raging about education, popular culture and responsible parenting --- casting Huck’s now-celebrated “freedom” in a very different and very modern light.

Life or Death by Michael Robotham - Thriller

January 26, 2016


Audie Palmer has spent 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to a robbery in which four people died and seven million dollars went missing. During that time he has suffered repeated beatings, stabbings and threats by inmates and guards, all desperate to answer the same question: where's the money? On the day before Audie is due to be released, he suddenly vanishes. Now everybody is searching for him, but Audie isn't running to save his own life --- he's trying to save someone else's.

The Long Utopia by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter - Science Fiction

January 26, 2016


Human society continues to evolve on Datum Earth as the spread of humanity progresses throughout the many Earths beyond. Lobsang suffers a breakdown and attempts to live a “normal” life on one of the millions of Long Earth worlds. His old friend, Joshua, searches for his father and discovers a heretofore unknown family history. But an alien planet has somehow become “entangled” with one of the Long Earth worlds. As Lobsang and Joshua learn, its voracious denizens intend to capture, conquer and colonize the new universe they have inadvertently discovered.

Michelle Obama: A Life by Peter Slevin - Biography

January 26, 2016


With disciplined reporting and a storyteller’s eye for revealing detail, Peter Slevin follows Michelle Obama to the White House from her working-class childhood on Chicago’s largely segregated South Side. He illuminates her tribulations at Princeton University and Harvard Law School during the racially charged 1980s and the dilemmas she faced in Chicago while building a high-powered career, raising a family, and helping a young community organizer named Barack Obama become president of the United States.

The Mime Order by Samantha Shannon - Urban Fantasy

January 26, 2016


Paige Mahoney is now the face of a rebellion, having broken out of the clairvoyant prison camp. She’s also the most wanted person in Scion-controlled London at the moment, with her photo repeatedly plastered on screens across the city. The underworld might be able to protect her from Scion, but she isn’t content to hide. She wants to expose the Rephaim, the immortal inhabitants of the Netherworld, for what they are. It seems that Paige isn’t ready to give back her acquired title of rebellion leader just yet.

Munich Airport by Greg Baxter - Fiction

January 26, 2016


In Greg Baxter’s second novel, his follow-up to 2013’s THE APARTMENT, an unnamed narrator waits in Munich’s fog-bound airport with his father and a US consul to transport the corpse of the expatriate narrator’s sister to America. She died alone of starvation in Berlin three weeks earlier. The book consists of flashbacks that paint a portrait of one family’s struggles and of a young man trying to come to terms with decisions he has made.

My American Duchess by Eloisa James - Historical Romance

January 26, 2016


The arrogant Duke of Trent intends to marry a well-bred Englishwoman. The last woman he would ever consider marrying is the adventuresome Merry Pelford, an American heiress who has infamously jilted two fiancés. But after one provocative encounter with the captivating Merry, Trent desires her more than any woman he has ever met. He is determined to have her as his wife, no matter what it takes. The problem is, Merry is already betrothed, and the former runaway bride has vowed to make it all the way to the altar.

Perfect Touch by Elizabeth Lowell - Romantic Suspense

January 26, 2016


An art dealer and owner of her own design studio, Sara Medina travels the world to find the ideal artwork for her clients. Jay Vermillion recently inherited Vermillion Sky, a working ranch near Wyoming’s breathtaking Grand Teton Mountains --- and the estates of the rich and restless. When Jay hires Sara to handle his late father’s artwork, it’s love at first sight --- a mutually inconvenient attraction that is soon complicated by a double murder at the edge of the ranch and a potential betrayal even closer to home.

Platinum Doll by Anne Girard - Historical Fiction

January 26, 2016


It's the Roaring Twenties, and 17-year-old Harlean Carpenter McGrew has run off to Beverly Hills. There, she has everything a girl could want, except an outlet for her talent. But everything changes when a dare pushes her to embrace her true ambition --- to be an actress on the silver screen. With her timeless beauty and striking shade of platinum-blond hair, Harlean becomes Jean Harlow. And as she's thrust into the limelight, Jean learns that this new world of opportunity comes with its own set of burdens.

A Reunion of Ghosts by Judith Claire Mitchell - Fiction

January 26, 2016


In the waning days of 1999, the last of the Alters --- three damaged but wisecracking sisters --- decide it’s time to close the circle of the family curse by taking their own lives. But first, Lady, Vee and Delph must explain the origins of that curse and how it has manifested throughout the preceding generations. Unspooling threads of history, personal memory and family lore, they weave a mesmerizing account that stretches back a century to their great-grandfather, a brilliant scientist whose professional triumph became the terrible legacy that defines them.

Robert Ludlum's The Janson Equation by Douglas Corleone - Thriller/Adventure

January 26, 2016


Prominent U.S. Senator James Wyckoff hires former government agents-turned-private security consultants Janson and Kincaid to locate his teenage son, Gregory. Gregory's girlfriend, Lynell, has been found strangled in a Seoul hotel, and Gregory has fled the city to avoid being arrested for the crime. But Senator Wyckoff insists that his son is innocent. When Janson and Kincaid realize they're being hunted by an assassin, they suspect that this crime --- and the cover-up --- were orchestrated by a shadowy unit of the U.S. State Department as part of a larger plot to provoke violence between North and South Korea.

Russian Tattoo: A Memoir by Elena Gorokhova - Memoir

January 26, 2016


In A MOUNTAIN OF CRUMBS, Elena Gorokhova describes coming of age behind the Iron Curtain and leaving her mother and her Motherland for a new life in the United States. Now, in RUSSIAN TATTOO, Elena learns that the journey of an immigrant is filled with everyday mistakes, small humiliations and a loss of dignity. But through perseverance and resilience, she gradually adapts to her new country.

Satin Island by Tom McCarthy - Fiction

January 26, 2016


U., a “corporate anthropologist,” is tasked with writing the Great Report, an all-encompassing ethnographic document that would sum up our era. Yet at every turn, he feels himself overwhelmed by the ubiquity of data, lost in buffer zones, wandering through crowds of apparitions, willing them to coalesce into symbols that can be translated into some kind of account that makes sense. As he begins to wonder if the Great Report might remain a shapeless, oozing plasma, his senses are startled awake by a dream of an apocalyptic cityscape.

Single, Carefree, Mellow: Stories by Katherine Heiny - Fiction/Short Stories

January 26, 2016


For the commitment-averse women in the 11 stories of SINGLE, CAREFREE, MELLOW, falling in love is never easy and always inconvenient. Maya is in love with both her boyfriend and her boss. Sadie’s lover calls her as he drives to meet his wife at marriage counseling. Nina is more worried that the Presbyterian minister living above her garage will hear her kids swearing than that he will find out she’s sleeping with her running partner. These ladies grapple with love amidst everything from unwelcome houseguests to disastrous birthday parties.

Speaking in Bones by Kathy Reichs - Thriller

January 26, 2016


Hazel “Lucky” Strike comes to Temperance Brennan with a tape recording of an unknown girl being held prisoner and terrorized. Strike is convinced the voice is that of 18-year-old Cora Teague, who went missing more than three years earlier. She is also certain that the teenager’s remains are gathering dust in Brennan’s lab. While local legends of eerie nocturnal phenomena and sinister satanic cults abound, it’s a zealous and secretive religious sect that has Brennan spooked and struggling to separate the saints from the sinners.

The Spring at Moss Hill: A Swift River Valley Novel by Carla Neggers - Romance

January 26, 2016


Kylie Shaw has found a home and a quiet place to work as an illustrator of children's books in little Knights Bridge, Massachusetts. Private investigator Russ Colton is in Knights Bridge to keep his client and friend, eccentric Hollywood costume designer Daphne Stewart, out of trouble. Kylie and Russ have more in common than they or anyone else would ever expect. They're both looking for a place to belong, and if they're able to let go of past mistakes and learn to trust again, they might just find what they need in Knights Bridge…and each other.

A Touch of Stardust by Kate Alcott - Historical Fiction

January 26, 2016


Julie Crawford left Fort Wayne, Indiana with dreams of being a Hollywood screenwriter. Unfortunately, her new life is off to a rocky start. Fired by the notoriously demanding director of Gone with the Wind, she’s lucky to be rescued by Carole Lombard, whose scandalous affair with the still-married Clark Gable is just heating up. While Rhett and Scarlett --- and Lombard and Gable --- make movie history, Julie is caught up in a whirlwind of outsized personalities and overheated behind-the-scenes drama...not to mention a budding romance of her own.

Twelve Days: A John Wells Novel by Alex Berenson - Thriller

January 26, 2016


John Wells, with his former CIA bosses Ellis Shafer and Vinnie Duto, has uncovered a staggering plot, a false-flag operation to convince the President to attack Iran. But they have no hard evidence. Now the President has set a deadline for Iran to give up its nuclear program, and the mullahs in Tehran --- furious and frightened --- have responded with a deadly terrorist attack. Wells, Shafer and Duto know they have only 12 days to find the proof they need.

The Ultimatum: A Jeremy Fisk Novel by Dick Wolf - Thriller

January 26, 2016


When a leaker named Verlyn Merritt releases sensitive documents from the NYPD Intelligence Division to WikiLeaks, some of the deadliest criminals have access to Detective Jeremy Fisk’s unlisted home address. Within hours, three mysterious assailants arrive at his apartment. Who are they, and why do they want Fisk dead? Authorities quickly identify and arrest Merritt. But the case takes a sinister twist when an anonymous third party makes threats if authorities don’t release Merritt immediately.

The Unraveling of Mercy Louis by Keija Parssinen - Psychological Suspense

January 26, 2016


Mercy Louis, the star of the championship girls’ basketball team, seems destined for greatness, but the road out of town is riddled with obstacles. At the periphery of her world floats team manager Illa Stark, who is spellbound by Mercy’s beauty and talent. But a note discovered in Mercy’s gym locker reveals that her life may not be as perfect as it appears. The last day of school brings the disturbing discovery, and as summer unfolds and the police investigate, every girl becomes a suspect.