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October 23, 2012

October 23, 2012

The following are lists of books releasing the weeks of October 22nd and October 29th that we think will be of interest to Bookreporter.com readers.

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On Sale the Week of October 22nd in Hardcover

October 23rd

THE ART FORGER by B. A. Shapiro
On March 18, 1990, 13 works of art worth over $500 million were stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. It remains the largest unsolved art heist in history, and Claire Roth, a struggling young artist, is about to discover that there’s more to this crime than meets the eye.
Algonquin Books * 9781616201326

BACK TO BLOOD by Tom Wolfe
As a police launch speeds across Miami's Biscayne Bay --- with officer Nestor Camacho on board --- Tom Wolfe introduces the Cuban mayor; the black police chief; a wanna-go-muckraking young journalist and his Yale-marinated editor; an Anglo sex-addiction psychiatrist and his Latina nurse; a billionaire porn addict; a nest of shady Russians; and many more unforgettable characters.
Little, Brown and Company * 9780316036313

THE BRIDGE by Karen Kingsbury
For 30 years, Charlie and Donna Barton have run The Bridge, providing the people of middle Tennessee with coffee, conversation, and shelves of good books. Then in May, the hundred-year flood swept through Franklin and destroyed nearly every book in the store. Now the bank is pulling the lease on The Bridge. Despondent and without answers, Charlie considers the unthinkable. Then tragedy strikes, and suddenly, everything changes.
Howard Books * 9781451647013

THE ELEPHANT KEEPERS' CHILDREN by Peter Høeg
Fourteen-year-old Peter and his two siblings live on the fictional island of Finø, where people of all religious faiths coexist peacefully. Yet nothing is at it seems. When their eccentric and profoundly devout mother and father suddenly disappear, they must question whether their parents' relentless quest to boost church attendance has put them in danger.
Other Press * 9781590514900

THE MIDDLESTEINS by Jami Attenberg
For more than 30 years, Edie and Richard Middlestein shared a solid family life together in the suburbs of Chicago. But now things are splintering apart, seemingly for one reason: Edie's enormous girth. When Richard abandons her, it is up to the next generation of Middlesteins to take control. Do Edie's devastating choices rest on her shoulders alone, or are others at fault, too?
Grand Central Publishing * 9781455507214

THE RACKETEER by John Grisham
Given the importance of what they do, the controversies that often surround them, and the violent people they sometimes confront, it is remarkable that in the history of this country only four active federal judges have been murdered. Judge Raymond Fawcett has just become number five. Who is the Racketeer? And what does he have to do with the judge’s untimely demise?
Doubleday * 9780385535144

THE UNCOMMON APPEAL OF CLOUDS: An Isabel Dalhousie Novel by Alexander McCall Smith
In this ninth installment of Alexander McCall Smith’s Isabel Dalhousie series, the Edinburgh philosopher and amateur sleuth answers an unexpected appeal from a wealthy Scottish collector who has been robbed of a valuable painting. She soon discovers that the thieves may be closer to the owner than he ever would have expected. Against the backdrop of this intriguing case, Isabel copes with life’s issues, large and small.
Pantheon * 9780307907332


October 25th

FEAR ITSELF by Andrew Rosenheim
Jimmy Nessheim, a young Special Agent in the fledgling FBI, is assigned to infiltrate a new German–American organization known as the Bund. Ardently pro-Nazi, the Bund is conspiring to sabotage American efforts against Adolf Hitler. But as Nessheim’s investigation takes him into the very heart of the Bund, it becomes increasingly clear that something far more sinister is at work, something that seems to lead directly to the White House.
Overlook Hardcover * 9781468300727
On Sale the Week of October 22nd in Paperback

October 23rd

CARRY THE ONE by Carol Anshaw
CARRY THE ONE begins in the hours following Carmen’s wedding reception, when a car filled with stoned, drunk and sleepy guests accidentally hits and kills a girl on a dark country road. For the next 25 years, those involved, including Carmen and her brother and sister, craft their lives in response to this single tragic moment.
Simon & Schuster * 9781451656930

THE GARNER FILES: A Memoir by James Garner and Jon Winokur
After suffering physical abuse at the hands of his stepmother, James Garner left home at 14. He became Oklahoma’s first draftee of the Korean War and was awarded with two Purple Hearts before returning to Los Angeles to become an actor. In his memoir, Garner recalls his extraordinary struggles, as well as breaking Doris Day’s ribs, having a “heart-to-heart and eyeball-to-eyeball” with Steve McQueen, and much more.
Simon & Schuster * 9781451642612

THE HOLLOW MAN by Oliver Harris
The first book in a series of tense and twisting police procedurals, THE HOLLOW MAN starts with London police detective Nick Belsey at rock bottom, and then embroils him in a brazen identity theft scam and possible murder that could leave him either wealthy or dead.
Harper Paperbacks * 9780062136718

ILLUSION by Frank Peretti
After a magic performer loses his wife of over 40 years in a fatal car crash, fate brings them together, but with a roguish twist: Dane Collins is 60 when he meets his former wife for the second time --- a tender 18-year-old girl who reappears after death remembering nothing of her life with him.
Howard Books * 9781451669305

LONE WOLF by Jodi Picoult
A wolf pack and a family have more in common than you’d think. In her latest novel, mega-successful writer Jodi Picoult draws intriguing parallels between them --- while putting her human characters up against the biggest ethical quandary of their lives.
Atria/Emily Bestler Books * 9781439102756

THE MEMORY JAR: Seven Brides for Seven Bachelors, Book 1 by Tricia Goyer
In THE MEMORY JAR, part of the Seven Brides for Seven Bachelors series, we visit a small Amish community in West Kootenai, Montana, where for the past 10 years, Sarah Shelter has been passed over by the young Amish men who arrive there each year. A tragedy has closed her heart --- until she meets Jathan Schrock.
Zondervan * 9780310335108

THE REVISIONISTS by Thomas Mullen
Imagine you’re a time traveler sent back in time to make sure a catastrophic event takes place. Knowing millions of people will die, you stick to your mission, but something --- a small event, a chance meeting --- plants doubt in your mind about the validity of your operation. You wonder if you can really change history, and more importantly, if you want to.
Mulholland Books * 9780316176736

TO WHISPER HER NAME: A Belle Meade Plantation Novel by Tamera Alexander
As Ridley Cooper seeks to make peace within himself for “betraying” the South he loved, Olivia Aberdeen is determined never to be betrayed again. Set at Nashville’s historic Belle Meade Plantation, TO WHISPER HER NAME follows the journey of two wounded people and one fragile nation longing to find healing.
Zondervan * 9780310291060

THE WINTER PALACE: A Novel of Catherine the Great by Eva Stachniak
Eva Stachniak's novel tells the epic story of Catherine the Great’s improbable rise to power, as seen through the ever-watchful eyes of Varvara, an all-but-invisible servant close to the throne. Stachniak depicts Varvara’s secret alliance with Catherine as the princess grows into a legend --- through an enforced marriage, illicit seductions, and, at last, the shocking coup to assume the throne of all of Russia.
Bantam * 9780553386899
On Sale the Week of October 29th in Hardcover

October 30th

ASTRAY by Emma Donoghue
The fascinating characters that roam across the pages of Emma Donoghue's stories have all gone astray: they are emigrants, runaways, drifters, lovers old and new. They are gold miners and counterfeiters, attorneys and slaves. They cross other borders, too: those of race, law, sex and sanity. They travel for love or money, incognito or under duress.
Little, Brown and Company * 9780316206297

BRUCE by Peter Ames Carlin
In a groundbreaking biography that draws on unprecedented access to Bruce Springsteen and those closest to him, acclaimed music critic Peter Ames Carlin presents the most revealing account yet of New Jersey’s favorite son.
Touchstone * 9781439191828

A CHRISTMAS GARLAND by Anne Perry
Sent to India during the midst of the Indian Mutiny against the East India Company, Victor Narraway (Thomas Pitt's future boss) is charged with defending a British medical orderly accused of murdering a fellow guard. With the help of two small children, a Christmas garland, and some brilliant detective work, Narraway manages to find his Christmas miracle --- and learns a lesson about hope that he carries with him for the rest of his life.
Ballantine Books * 9780345530745

THE CHRISTMAS KID: And Other Brooklyn Stories by Pete Hamill
Never before collected in one volume, here are Pete Hamill's stories about Brooklyn, the borough in which he was born and grew up, and the one closest to his heart. These are stories of a New York almost lost but not forgotten, brimming over with nostalgia --- for the world after the war, the city before heroin and crack, the days of the Dodgers and Giants, even, for some, the world of the Depression.
Little, Brown and Company * 9780316232739

ELSEWHERE: A Memoir by Richard Russo
After eight commanding works of fiction, Pulitzer Prize winner Richard Russo now turns to memoir in a hilarious, moving and always surprising account of his life, his parents, and the upstate New York town they all struggled variously to escape.
Knopf * 9780307959539

THE GIVING QUILT: An Elm Creek Quilts Novel by Jennifer Chiaverini
At Elm Creek Manor, the week after Thanksgiving is “Quiltsgiving,” a time to commence a season of generosity. From near and far, quilters and aspiring quilters gather for a special winter session of quilt camp. Each quilter, ever mindful that many of her neighbors, friends and family members are struggling through difficult times, uses her creative gifts to alleviate their collective burden.
Dutton Adult * 9780525953609

KURT VONNEGUT: Letters edited by Dan Wakefield
This extraordinary collection of personal correspondence has all the hallmarks of Kurt Vonnegut’s fiction. Written over a 60-year period, these letters, the vast majority of them never before published, are funny, moving, and full of the same uncanny wisdom that has endeared his work to readers worldwide.
Delacorte Press * 9780385343756

THE SANCTUARY by Ted Dekker
Vigilante priest Danny Hansen is serving a 50-year prison term for the murder of two abusive men. Filled with remorse, Danny is determined to live out his days by a code of non-violence. But when Renee Gilmore, the woman he loves, receives a box containing a bloody finger and draconian demands from a mysterious enemy on the outside, Danny must find a way to escape.
Center Street * 9781599953359

THE SINS OF THE MOTHER by Danielle Steel
Everything Olivia Grayson touches in the business world turns to gold. Now, though, she reflects upon her life and wishes she'd invested in her family as much as she did in her business. Eager to atone for past sins, Olivia does her utmost to support each of her children as they struggle through mid-life crises. Together, the Grayson dynasty will confront conflicts past and present as Olivia takes them on a climactic family vacation.
Delacorte Press * 9780385343206

THE WALNUT TREE: A Holiday Tale by Charles Todd
While visiting France in the summer of 1914, Lady Elspeth Douglas is stranded at the port city of Calais with a sea of travelers, soldiers and refugees trying to leave the continent after the Germans invade Belgium at the start of World War I. She begins heroically carrying water to weary soldiers near the front, where she is rescued from a German shelling by Captain Peter Gilchrist. Once she is safely home in England, she cannot forget the gallant captain.
William Morrow * 9780062236999

A WINTER DREAM by Richard Paul Evans
Joe is forced out of the family business by his jealous siblings. Moving on to another company, he soon becomes chief advisor to the CEO. But when the economy turns, Joe’s siblings need his help to save the family business.
Simon & Schuster * 9781451628036
On Sale the Week of October 29th in Paperback

October 30th

THE DARKENING FIELD by William Ryan
It is 1937, and Captain Alexei Korolev finds himself on an airplane bound for Odessa after the suspicious suicide of Maria Alexandrovna Lenskaya, a loyal young party member who supposedly had an illicit intimate relationship with the party director. His instructions are to determine if her suicide was actually a cover-up for murder, and if so, to find her killer --- but under no circumstances reveal her close ties to the director.
Minotaur Books * 9781250013415

DEAD ASLEEP by Jamie Freveletti
Biochemist Emma Caldridge comes to a remote tropical island in the Caribbean in search of minerals believed to reverse the aging process. What she finds instead are the bloody remnants of a bizarre religious ritual. And here, where the local people speak in whispers about sea monsters, ancient voodoo curses and rampaging evil, she discovers something far more real...and more terrifying.
Harper * 9780062025197

DOWN THE DARKEST ROAD by Tami Hoag
In the four years since Lauren Lawton’s daughter disappeared, Lauren’s husband took his own life and her younger daughter, Leah, is looking only for what’s left of her childhood. But Lauren knows who took her child, and there’s not a shred of evidence against him. Looking for a fresh start, Lauren and Leah move to idyllic Oak Knoll. So has Lauren’s suspect. And it feels that history is about to repeat itself.
Signet * 9780451414960

ELEGY FOR EDDIE: A Maisie Dobbs Novel by Jacqueline Winspear
Maisie Dobbs takes on her most personal case yet: a twisting investigation into the brutal killing of a street peddler that will take her from the working-class neighborhoods of her childhood into London’s highest circles of power.
Harper Perennial * 9780062049582

THE GREAT LEADER by Jim Harrison
A policeman retires but can’t let go of the case he last worked: a cult leader recruiting underage girls. Trying to bring the leader down almost ruins a perfectly good retirement. In the end, though, tenacity pays off.
Grove Press * 9780802145987

HOTEL VENDOME by Danielle Steel
No matter what ups and downs life throws her way as she journeys from childhood to womanhood, and from America to Europe and back again, the elegant and determined Heloise Martin knows that she can count on her Swiss-born father and closest confidante, Hugues, to welcome her home again, back to the one place from where she draws her strength: New York City's magnificent Hotel Vendome.
Dell * 9780440245209

I AM HALF-SICK OF SHADOWS: A Flavia de Luce Novel by Alan Bradley
A famous actress is starring in a new movie that’s being filmed at the de Luces’ old English estate. When a body is found on set, strangled to death with a length of film, Flavia knows that a gruesome killer is hiding in plain sight, and she’s determined to find out who it is.
Bantam * 9780385344029

NEED YOU NOW by James Grippando
What if the U.S. government knew about the Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme but had a secret agenda? This chilling question is at the heart of James Grippando’s latest thriller, as today’s headlines are turned into a frightening “what if” scenario of financial intrigue.
Harper * 9780061840319

PRINCE OF RAVENSCAR: A Sherbrooke Novel by Catherine Coulter
Nicholas Monroe is feeling pressure from his family to remarry. But the mysterious death of his first wife still hangs over his head. Her brother, Richard, believes Nicholas is responsible for her death. When Richard finally confronts Nicholas, long-held secrets threaten to resurface --- despite someone's desperate effort to keep them buried.
Jove * 9780515151152

ROME: A Cultural, Visual and Personal History by Robert Hughes
Starting on a personal note, Robert Hughes takes us to the Rome he first encountered as a hungry 21-year-old fresh from Australia in 1959. He then takes us back more than 2,000 years to the city's foundation, one mired in mythologies and superstitions that would inform Rome's development for centuries.
Vintage * 9780375711688

THE SHORTEST WAY HOME by Juliette Fay
Sean has spent 20 years in Third World war zones and natural disaster areas. But when burnout sets in, he is reluctantly drawn home to Belham, Massachusetts. There, he discovers that his steely aunt, overly dramatic sister and quirky nephew are having a little natural disaster of their own. When he reconnects with a woman from his past, Sean has to wonder if the bonds of love and loyalty might just rewrite his destiny.
Penguin * 9780143121916

STEALING MONA LISA by Carson Morton
One-hundred years ago, the Mona Lisa went missing from the Louvre. In this re-imagining of how it happened, charming con artist Valfierno recruits a grateful painter, a streetwise femme fatale, a disgruntled museum worker and a wayward American to pull off the heist of a lifetime.
Minotaur Books *9781250015730

V IS FOR VENGEANCE by Sue Grafton
A spiderweb of dangerous relationships is at the heart of Sue Grafton's new Kinsey Millhone novel. When a woman with a murky past suddenly dies, it initially appears to be suicide. But Kinsey discovers that it actually may have been a murder tied to a local shoplifting ring.
Berkley * 9780425250563

THE WEDDING QUILT: An Elm Creek Quilts Novel by Jennifer Chiaverini
Sarah McClure arrived at Elm Creek Manor as a newlywed, never suspecting that her quilting lessons with master quilter Sylvia Bergstrom Compson would inspire the successful and enduring business Elm Creek Quilts, whose members have nurtured a circle of friendship spanning generations. THE WEDDING QUILT opens as the wedding day of Sarah's daughter Caroline approaches.
Plume * 9780452298491

WHEN ELVES ATTACK: A Joyous Christmas Greeting from the Criminal Nutbars of the Sunshine State by Tim Dorsey
It’s ho, ho, ho time in this hilarious and wacky Florida holiday tale, featuring bighearted psychopath Serge Storms and his sidekick, Coleman. Like Santa, Serge knows who’s been naughty and who’s been nice. Few can give with the generosity and creativity of Serge, and as December 24th rolls around, he is filling up the Serge sleigh with an unforgettable bag of presents.
William Morrow Paperbacks * 9780062205797

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