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Week of December 3, 2018

New in Paperback

Week of December 3, 2018

Paperback releases for the week of December 3rd include Danielle Steel's ACCIDENTAL HEROES, a heart-stopping thriller that engages ordinary men and women in the fight of their lives during a flight from New York to San Francisco; I’LL BE YOUR BLUE SKY, an emotionally evocative novel from Marisa de los Santos that probes the deepest recesses of the human heart and illuminates the tender connections that bind our lives; THE WINTER STATION by Jody Shields, in which an aristocratic Russian doctor races to contain a deadly plague in an outpost city in Manchuria --- before it spreads to the rest of the world; and Sam Wasson's IMPROV NATION, a richly reported, scene-driven narrative that charts the meteoric rise of improv from its unlikely beginnings in McCarthy-era Chicago.

The Accidental Beauty Queen by Teri Wilson - Romantic Comedy

December 4, 2018

Charlotte Gorman loves her job as an elementary school librarian, and is content to experience life through the pages of her books. Which couldn’t be more opposite from her identical twin sister. Ginny, an Instagram-famous beauty pageant contestant, is not giving up until she gets the title of Miss American Treasure. And she’s refusing to do it alone this time. She drags Charlotte to the pageant as a good luck charm, but the winning plan quickly goes awry when Ginny has a terrible, face-altering allergic reaction the night before the pageant, and Charlotte suddenly finds herself in a switcheroo the twins haven’t successfully pulled off in decades.

Accidental Heroes by Danielle Steel - Romantic Suspense

December 4, 2018

Two planes have just departed for San Francisco --- one a 757, another a smaller Airbus A321. At a security checkpoint, TSA agent Bernice Adams finds a postcard of the Golden Gate Bridge bearing an ambiguous --- perhaps ominous --- message. Her supervisor dismisses her concerns, but Bernice calls security and soon Ben Waterman, a senior Homeland Security agent, arrives. As Ben scans the passenger manifests, his focus turns to the A321. Sifting through data and relying on instinct, Ben becomes convinced that someone on that plane is planning something terrible. And he’s right. Passengers, crew and experts on the ground become heroes out of necessity to try to avert tragedy at the 11th hour.

Agent in Place: A Gray Man Novel by Mark Greaney - Thriller

December 4, 2018

Fresh off his first mission back with the CIA, Court Gentry secures what seems like a cut-and-dried contract job: A group of expats in Paris hires him to kidnap the mistress of Syrian dictator Ahmed Azzam to get intel that could destabilize Azzam's regime. Court delivers Bianca Medina to the rebels, but his job doesn't end there. She soon reveals that she has given birth to a son, the only heir to Azzam's rule --- and a potent threat to the Syrian president's powerful wife. Now, to get Bianca's cooperation, Court must bring her son out of Syria alive.

Blood Sisters by Jane Corry - Psychological Thriller

December 4, 2018

Three little girls set off to school one sunny morning. Within an hour, one of them is dead. Fifteen years later, Kitty can't speak and has no memory of the accident that's to blame. She lives in an institution and is unlikely ever to leave. But that doesn't keep her from being frightened when she encounters an eerily familiar face. Art teacher Alison is struggling to make ends meet and to forget the past. When a teaching job at a prison opens up, she takes it, despite her fears. Then she starts to receive alarming notes; next, her classroom erupts in violence. Meanwhile, someone is watching both Kitty and Alison. Someone who never forgot what happened that day. Someone who wants revenge. And only another life will do.

The Boat People by Sharon Bala - Fiction

December 4, 2018

When a rusty cargo ship carrying Mahindan and 500 fellow refugees from Sri Lanka's bloody civil war reaches Vancouver's shores, the young father thinks he and his six-year-old son can finally start a new life. Instead, the group is thrown into a detention processing center, with government officials and news headlines speculating that among the "boat people" are members of a separatist militant organization responsible for countless suicide attacks --- and that these terrorists now pose a threat to Canada's national security. As the refugees become subject to heavy interrogation, Mahindan begins to fear that a desperate act taken in Sri Lanka to fund their escape may now jeopardize his and his son's chance for asylum.

Death at Nuremberg: A Clandestine Operations Novel by W. E. B. Griffin and William E. Butterworth IV - Historical Thriller/Adventure

December 4, 2018

When Jim Cronley hears he's just won the Legion of Merit, he figures there's another shoe to drop, and it's a big one: he's out as Chief, DCI-Europe. His new assignments, however, couldn't be bigger: to protect the U.S. chief prosecutor in the Nuremberg trials from a rumored Soviet NKGB kidnapping, and to hunt down and dismantle the infamous Odessa, an organization dedicated to helping Nazi war criminals escape to South America. It doesn't take long for the first attempt on his life, and then the second. NKGB or Odessa? Who can tell? The deeper he pushes, the more secrets tumble out.

Hanna Who Fell from the Sky by Christopher Meades - Fiction

December 4, 2018

Hanna has never been outside her secluded community of Clearhaven, nor has she ever questioned why her father has four wives. And in only one week, on her 18th birthday, Hanna will follow tradition and become the fifth wife of a man more than twice her age. But just days before the wedding, an enigmatic stranger challenges Hanna to question her fate and to follow her own will, causing her world to begin unraveling around her. When her mother reveals a secret, Hanna is forced to decide if she was really meant for something greater than the claustrophobic world of Clearhaven. But can she abandon her beloved younger sister and the only home she’s ever known?

I'll Be Your Blue Sky by Marisa de los Santos - Fiction

December 4, 2018

On the weekend of her wedding, Clare Hobbes meets an elderly woman named Edith Herron. During the course of a single conversation, Edith gives Clare the courage to break off her engagement to her overly possessive fiancé. Three weeks later, Clare learns that Edith has died and has given her another gift: Blue Sky House. Though the former guest house has been empty for years, Clare feels a deep connection to Edith inside its walls. As she peels back the layers of Edith’s life, Clare discovers a story of dark secrets, passionate love, heartbreaking sacrifice and incredible courage. She also makes startling discoveries about herself: where she’s come from, where she’s going, and what --- and who --- she loves.

Improv Nation: How We Made a Great American Art by Sam Wasson - Entertainment/History

December 4, 2018

In IMPROV NATION, Sam Wasson charts the meteoric rise of improv from its unlikely beginnings in McCarthy-era Chicago. We witness the chance meeting between Mike Nichols and Elaine May, hang out at the after-hours bar where Dan Aykroyd hosted friends like John Belushi, Bill Murray and Gilda Radner, and go behind the scenes of cultural landmarks from The Graduate to “The Colbert Report.” Along the way, we befriend pioneers such as Harold Ramis, Chevy Chase, Steve Carell, Amy Poehler, Alan Arkin, Tina Fey, Judd Apatow and many others. Wasson shows why improv deserves to be considered the great American art form of the last half century.

Josephine Baker's Last Dance by Sherry Jones - Historical Fiction

December 4, 2018

Discover the fascinating and singular life story of Josephine Baker --- actress, singer, dancer, Civil Rights activist, member of the French Resistance during WWII, and a woman dedicated to erasing prejudice and creating a more equitable world. In this illuminating biographical novel, Sherry Jones brings to life Josephine's early years in servitude and poverty in America, her rise to fame as a showgirl in her famous banana skirt, her activism against discrimination, and her many loves and losses.

Just After Midnight by Catherine Ryan Hyde - Fiction

December 4, 2018

No longer tolerating her husband’s borderline abuse, Faith escapes to her parents’ California beach house to plan her next move. She never dreamed her new chapter would involve befriending Sarah, a 14-year-old on the run from her father and reeling from her mother’s sudden and suspicious death. While Sarah’s grandmother scrambles to get custody, Faith is charged with spiriting the girl away on a journey that will restore her hope: Sarah implores Faith to take her to Falkner’s Midnight Sun, the prized black mare that her father sold out from under her. Throughout the sweltering summer, as they follow Midnight from show to show, Sarah comes to terms with what she witnessed on the terrible night her mother died.

The Last Equation of Isaac Severy: A Novel in Clues by Nova Jacobs - Literary Mystery

December 4, 2018

Just days after mathematician and family patriarch Isaac Severy dies of an apparent suicide, his adopted granddaughter Hazel, owner of a struggling bookstore, receives a letter from him by mail. In it, Isaac alludes to a secretive organization that is after his final bombshell equation, and he charges Hazel with safely delivering it to a trusted colleague. But first, she must find where the equation is hidden. While in Los Angeles for Isaac’s funeral, Hazel realizes she’s not the only one searching for his life’s work, and that the equation’s implications have potentially disastrous consequences for the extended Severy family, a group of dysfunctional geniuses unmoored by the sudden death of their patriarch.

Milkman by Anna Burns - Fiction

December 4, 2018

In an unnamed city, middle sister stands out for the wrong reasons. She reads while walking, for one. And she has been taking French night classes downtown. So when a local paramilitary known as the milkman begins pursuing her, she suddenly becomes “interesting,” the last thing she ever wanted to be. Despite middle sister’s attempts to avoid him --- and to keep her mother from finding out about her maybe-boyfriend --- rumors spread and the threat of violence lingers. MILKMAN is a story of the way inaction can have enormous repercussions, in a time when the wrong flag, wrong religion or even a sunset can be subversive.

Only Killers and Thieves by Paul Howarth - Historical Fiction/Adventure

December 4, 2018

It is 1885, and a crippling drought threatens to ruin the McBride family. When the rain finally comes, it is a miracle that renews their hope for survival. But returning home from an afternoon swimming at a remote waterhole filled by the downpour, 14-year-old Tommy and 16-year-old Billy meet with a shocking tragedy. Thirsting for vengeance against the man they believe has wronged them, the distraught brothers turn to the ruthless and cunning John Sullivan, their father’s former employer. As they ride across the barren outback in pursuit, their harsh and horrifying journey will have a devastating impact on Tommy and will hold enduring consequences for a young country struggling to come into its own.

Revolution Sunday written by Wendy Guerra, translated by Achy Obejas - Fiction

December 4, 2018

Cleo, scion of a once-prominent Cuban family and a promising young writer in her own right, travels to Spain to collect a prestigious award. There, Cuban expats view her with suspicion --- assuming she's an informant for the Castro regime. To Cleo's surprise, that suspicion follows her home to Cuba, where she finds herself under constant surveillance by the government. When she meets and falls in love with a Hollywood filmmaker, she discovers her family is not who she thought they were…and neither is the filmmaker.

The Saboteur: The Aristocrat Who Became France's Most Daring Anti-Nazi Commando by Paul Kix - Biography

December 4, 2018

Robert de La Rochefoucald was a scion of one of the most storied families in France. When the Nazis invaded and imprisoned his father, La Rochefoucald escaped to England and learned the dark arts of anarchy and combat from the officers of Special Operations Executive, the collection of British spies who altered the war in Europe with tactics that earned it notoriety as the “Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare.” With his newfound skills, La Rochefoucauld returned to France and organized Resistance cells, blew up fortified compounds and munitions factories, interfered with Germans’ war-time missions, and executed Nazi officers. THE SABOTEUR recounts La Rochefoucauld’s enthralling adventures.

The Second Goodbye: A Pacific Homicide Novel by Patricia Smiley - Mystery

December 8, 2018

For every homicide investigation she undertakes, Detective Davie Richards is determined to learn as much about the victim as she does about the killer. But there's nothing about 34-year-old Sara Montaine or her death that makes sense. Was Sara a saint caring for her dying husband or a gold-digger with a sketchy background? Did she commit suicide or was she murdered? Before her marriage, Sara lived comfortably without any obvious source of income, unusual for an orphan raised in foster care. As Davie digs deeper, she unearths Sara's troubled past and a viper's nest of villains who are willing to kill to keep their secrets hidden.

Sirens by Joseph Knox - Thriller

December 4, 2018

Infiltrating the inner circle of enigmatic criminal Zain Carver is dangerous enough. Pulling it off while also rescuing Isabelle Rossiter, a runaway politician’s daughter, from Zain’s influence? Impossible. That’s why Aidan Waits is the perfect man for the job. Disgraced, emotionally damaged, and despised by his superiors. In other words, completely expendable. But Aidan is a born survivor. And as he works his way deep into Zain’s shadowy world, he finds that nothing is as it seems. Zain is a mesmerizing, Gatsby-esque figure who lures young women into his orbit --- women who have a bad habit of turning up dead. But is Zain really responsible? And will Isabelle be next?

The Surrogate by Louise Jensen - Fiction

December 4, 2018

Kat and her husband, Nick, have tried everything to become parents, and are on the verge of giving up. Then a chance encounter with Kat's childhood friend, Lisa, gives Kat and Nick one last chance to achieve their dream. But Kat and Lisa's history hides dark secrets. And there is more to Lisa than meets the eye. As dangerous cracks start to appear in Kat's perfect picture of happily-ever-after, she realizes that she must face her fear of the past to save her family.

This Is What Happened by Mick Herron - Thriller

December 4, 2018

Twenty-six-year-old Maggie Barnes is someone you would never look at twice. Living alone in a month-to-month sublet in the huge city of London, with no family but an estranged sister, no boyfriend or partner, and not much in the way of friends, Maggie is just the kind of person who could vanish from the face of the earth without anyone taking notice. Or just the kind of person MI5 needs to infiltrate the establishment and thwart an international plot that puts all of Britain at risk. Now one young woman has the chance to be a hero --- if she can think quickly enough to stay alive.

The Winter Station by Jody Shields - Historical Fiction

December 4, 2018

In 1910, people are mysteriously dying at an alarming rate in the Russian-ruled city of Kharbin, a major railway outpost in Northern China. Strangely, some of the dead bodies vanish before they can be identified. During a dangerously cold winter in a city gripped by fear, the Baron, a wealthy Russian aristocrat and the city's medical commissioner, is determined to stop this mysterious plague. Battling local customs, an occupying army and a brutal epidemic with no name, the Baron is torn between duty and compassion, between Western medical science and respect for Chinese tradition. His greatest refuge is the intimacy he shares with his young Chinese wife --- but she has secrets of her own.

The Wolves of Winter by Tyrell Johnson - Post-Apocalyptic Thriller

December 4, 2018

Lynn McBride has learned much since society collapsed in the face of nuclear war and the relentless spread of disease. As the memories of her old life continue to surface, she’s forced to forge ahead in the snow-drifted Canadian Yukon, learning how to hunt and trap and slaughter. Forget the old days. Forget summer. Forget warmth. Forget anything that doesn’t help you survive in the endless white wilderness beyond the edges of a fallen world. Shadows of the world before have found her tiny community --- most prominently in the enigmatic figure of Jax, who brings with him dark secrets of the past and sets in motion a chain of events that will call Lynn to a role she never imagined.