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Week of June 30, 2014

New in Paperback

Week of June 30, 2014

Releases for the week of June 30th include NIGHT FILM by Marisha Pessl, the haunting story of a journalist who becomes obsessed with the mysterious death of a troubled prodigy --- the daughter of an iconic, reclusive filmmaker; TAMARACK COUNTY, the 13th installment in William Kent Krueger's Cork O'Connor mystery series; A TAP ON THE WINDOW, in which Linwood Barclay reveals the dark side of a small town --- and the even darker secrets that hide there; SOMERSET, a prequel to Leila Meacham's multi-generational epic, ROSES; and I WEAR THE BLACK HAT, a collection of essays that finds Chuck Klosterman questioning the modern understanding of villainy.

Alien Hunter: A Flynn Carroll Thriller by Whitley Strieber - Thriller

July 1, 2014


When police detective Flynn Carroll's young wife disappears in the night, his obsessive investigation reveals a string of similar disappearances and draws the attention of secret police Special Agent Diana Glass, whose team invites Flynn into their world of extraordinary challenges and lethal dangers.

The Curiosity by Stephen P. Kiernan - Science Fiction/Thriller

July 1, 2014


Dr. Kate Philo and her scientific exploration team make a breathtaking discovery in the Arctic: the body of a man buried deep in the ice. Remarkably, the frozen man is brought back to the lab and successfully reanimated. Kate and the man, who turns out to be Judge Jeremiah Rice, grow closer. But the clock is ticking and Jeremiah’s new life is slipping away...and all too soon, Kate must decide how far she is willing to go to protect the man she has come to love.

Dick Francis's Refusal by Felix Francis - Mystery

July 1, 2014


Sir Richard Stewart, chairman of the racing authority, begs retired investigator Sid Halley to investigate a series of dodgy races. Sid adamantly refuses, but the following day, Sir Richard is found dead under suspicious circumstances. And then a man with an Irish accent contacts Sid, telling him to deliver a whitewashed report about the suspected race-fixing…or else. Sid realizes he must meet his enemy head-on, or he might pay the ultimate price for his refusal.

The Famous and the Dead: A Charlie Hood Novel by T. Jefferson Parker - Thriller

July 1, 2014


Three men --- an earnest law-enforcer, an inveterate lawbreaker, and the man who pits them against each other --- hurtle toward one another in the jaw-dropping conclusion to T. Jefferson Parker’s mesmerizing vision of the border. Their climactic showdown brings to a spectacular close a crime series that obliterated the boundaries of the genre.

The Gravity of Birds by Tracy Guzeman - Fiction

July 1, 2014


THE GRAVITY OF BIRDS is a debut novel that combines an unimaginable betrayal and a complicated plot involving two sisters, their relationships with a charming, self-centered artist, and a missing painting. A tangled web of continual lies and lives drastically altered by those lies finally unravels with many surprises.

The Highway by C. J. Box - Mystery/Thriller

July 1, 2014


Two sisters set out across a remote stretch of Montana road, and it is the last time anyone hears from them again. Cody Hoyt, who has just lost his job as police investigator, begins the drive south to the girls’ last known location. Meanwhile, his former rookie partner, Cassie Dewell, discovers that Gracie and Danielle Sullivan aren’t the first girls who have disappeared in this area. This majestic landscape is the hunting ground for a killer whose viciousness is outmatched only by his intelligence.

Hotshot by Julie Garwood - Romantic Suspense

August 6, 2013


Peyton Lockhart and her sisters have inherited Bishop’s Cove, a small, luxurious oceanfront resort, but it comes with a condition: The girls must run the resort for one year and show a profit --- only then will they own it. There are countless challenges and too many people who want to stop the sisters from succeeding. So Peyton calls on her childhood friend and protector, Finn MacBain, now with the FBI, and asks for his help.

The House on Mermaid Point by Wendy Wax - Fiction

July 1, 2014


Maddie, Avery and Nikki first got to know one another --- perhaps all too well --- while desperately restoring a beachfront mansion to its former grandeur. Now they’re putting that experience to professional use. But their latest project has presented some challenges they couldn’t have dreamed up in their wildest fantasies --- although the house does belong to a man who actually was Maddie’s wildest fantasy once.

I Wear the Black Hat: Grappling with Villains (Real and Imagined) by Chuck Klosterman - Popular Culture/Essays

July 1, 2014


In I WEAR THE BLACK HAT, Chuck Klosterman questions the modern understanding of villainy. What was so Machiavellian about Machiavelli? Why don’t we see Bernhard Goetz the same way we see Batman? Who is more worthy of our vitriol --- Bill Clinton or Don Henley? What was O.J. Simpson’s second-worst decision? And why is Klosterman still haunted by some kid he knew for one week in 1985?

Lay It on My Heart by Angela Pneuman - Fiction

July 1, 2014


Charmaine Peake's prophet father has been committed to a psychiatric institution. Her mother, forced to rent out their house and move them down to a trailer on the river, won't stop telling Charmaine things she doesn't want to hear. A sanctimonious missionary kid has taken over her real bedroom, where Charmaine discovers his stash of strange and questionable photos. She is being tested at every turn: Where will her choices take her? And her faith?

Night Film by Marisha Pessl - Literary Thriller

July 1, 2014


Ashley Cordova’s death is ruled a suicide, but veteran investigative journalist Scott McGrath suspects otherwise. As he probes the strange circumstances surrounding Ashley’s life and death, McGrath comes face-to-face with the legacy of her father: the legendary, reclusive cult-horror-film director Stanislas Cordova. For McGrath, another death connected to this seemingly cursed family dynasty seems more than just a coincidence.

The Night Guest by Fiona McFarlane - Fiction

July 1, 2014


Widowed Ruth lives a quiet life by the sea until a woman claiming to be a government case worker comes to her door one wet night and stays. Frida’s presence subtly changes the environment, as Ruth suddenly starts recalling her childhood in Fiji and seems to hear a tiger roaming outside her window. Yes, there’s a dark secret in the past, but THE NIGHT GUEST is more concerned with creeping fear, the long road of aging, and the inviolable presence of the colonial past.

Our Happy Time written by Gong Ji-young, translated by Sora Kim-Russell - Fiction

July 1, 2014


Yu-Jung is in the hospital recovering from her third suicide attempt when she receives a life-changing visit. Her no-nonsense aunt appears by her side and suggests Yu-Jung accompany her on a charitable visit to death row. There she meets Yun-Soo, a convicted murderer who will soon be put to death. Through weekly, hour-long meetings, Yu-Jung and Yun-Soo slowly reveal to each other the dark secrets of their pasts and the hidden traumas that have shaped their lives.

Quiet Dell by Jayne Anne Phillips - Historical Fiction

July 1, 2014


Weeks after meeting a chivalrous, elegant man named Harry Powers, Asta Eicher and her three children are dead. Journalist Emily Thornhill becomes deeply invested in understanding what happened, and allies herself with a banker who is wracked by guilt for not saving Asta. She goes to West Virginia to cover the murder trial and to investigate the story herself, accompanied by a charming and unconventional photographer who is equally drawn to the case.

Ready for a Brand New Beat: How "Dancing in the Street" Became the Anthem for a Changing America by Mark Kurlansky - Music/History

July 1, 2014


In 1964, Marvin Gaye, record producer William “Mickey” Stevenson, and Motown songwriter Ivy Jo Hunter wrote “Dancing in the Street.” The song was supposed to be an upbeat dance recording, but it became one of the icons of American pop culture. As the country grew more radicalized in the summer of 1964, “Dancing in the Street” gained currency as an activist anthem and took on new meanings for the many different groups that were all changing as the country changed.

Somerset by Leila Meacham - Historical Fiction

February 4, 2014


Silas Toliver, deprived of his inheritance, joins up with his best friend Jeremy Warwick to plan a wagon train expedition to  the "black waxy" promise of a new territory called Texas. Slavery, westward expansion, abolition, the Civil War, love, marriage, friendship, tragedy and triumph --- all the ingredients (and much more) that made so many love ROSES so much --- are here in abundance.

Something Borrowed, Someone Dead: An Agatha Raisin Mystery by M. C. Beaton - Mystery

July 1, 2014


It is quite the shock when Gloria French is found dead, murdered by a poisoned bottle of elderberry wine. Afraid the murder will be a blight on the small town, Parish councillor Jerry Tarrant hires private detective Agatha Raisin to track down the murderer. A secretive village whose residents resent the investigation doesn't stop the ever-persistent Agatha from sticking her nose where no one wants it --- especially as the suspect list grows.

Supreme Justice by Max Allan Collins - Thriller

July 1, 2014


Is a mastermind mounting an unprecedented judicial coup aimed at replacing ultra-conservative justices with a new liberal majority? To crack the conspiracy and save the lives of not just the justices but also Secret Service agent Joseph Reeder’s own family, FBI agent Patti Rogers and legendary investigator Reeder must push their skills --- and themselves --- to the limit.

Tamarack County by William Kent Krueger - Mystery/Thriller

July 1, 2014


As a blizzard swells just days before Christmas, the car belonging to the wife of a retired local judge is discovered abandoned on a rural road. When the beloved pet dog of a friend is found decapitated, private investigator Cork O’Connor begins to detect a startling pattern of ominous incidents throughout the area. Then Cork’s son is nearly killed, and he knows this is no trick of his imagination. Someone is spinning a deadly web in Tamarack County.

A Tap on the Window by Linwood Barclay - Thriller

July 1, 2014


One night, a girl drenched in rain taps on private investigator Cal Weaver’s car window and asks for a ride. She’s the same age as Scott, his teenage son who died in a tragic accident, and maybe she can help Cal find the dealer who sold his son the drugs that killed him. After a brief stop at a roadside diner, Cal senses that something is not right with the girl or the situation. Before he knows it, Cal is drawn into a nightmare of pain and suspicion.

Tell No Lies by Gregg Hurwitz - Thriller

July 1, 2014

The Third Kingdom: A Richard and Kahlan Novel by Terry Goodkind - Fantasy/Adventure

July 1, 2014


In this sequel to THE OMEN MACHINE, the bloodthirsty Jit is dead, and Richard and Kahlan have survived. But Richard, infected with the essence of death itself and robbed of his power as a war wizard, must race against time to uncover and stop the infernal conspiracy assembling itself behind the wall far to the north. His friends and allies are already captives of this fell combination, and Kahlan, also touched by death's power, will die completely if Richard fails.

The Wednesday Daughters by Meg Waite Clayton - Fiction

July 1, 2014


Hope Tantry arrives at the small cottage where her mother, Ally, spent the last years of her life. Ally had used the cottage as a writer’s retreat while she worked on her unpublished biography of Beatrix Potter, yet Hope knows little about her mother’s time there. Traveling with Hope are friends Anna Page and Julie, who are grappling with issues of a different era. They’ve come to help Hope sort through her mother’s personal effects, yet what they find is a tangled family history.

Wheelmen: Lance Armstrong, the Tour de France, and the Greatest Sports Conspiracy Ever by Reed Albergotti and Vanessa O'Connell - Sports/Ethics

July 1, 2014


From the two Wall Street Journal reporters who broke the story at every turn, WHEELMEN is an in-depth look at the history of American competitive cycling through the lens of Lance Armstrong’s doping scandal and dramatic fall from grace, the phenomenal business success built on the back of fraud, and a living portrait of what is, without question, the greatest conspiracy in the history of sports.

Who Asked You? by Terry McMillan - Fiction

July 1, 2014


WHO ASKED YOU? opens as Trinetta leaves her two young sons with her mother, Betty Jean, and promptly disappears. BJ already has her hands full dealing with her other adult children, two opinionated sisters, an ill husband, and her own postponed dreams --- all while holding down a job delivering room service at a hotel. The drama unfolds through the perspectives of a rotating cast of characters, each playing a part, and full of surprises.