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ALL DAY AND A NIGHT by Alafair Burke (Mystery/Thriller)
Psychotherapist Helen Brunswick is murdered in her Park Slope office. Her injuries are eerily similar to the signature used 20 years earlier by Anthony Amaro, a serial killer serving a life sentence for his crimes. Now, Amaro is asking to be released from prison, arguing that he was wrongly convicted, and that the true killer is still on the loose. NYPD detectives Ellie Hatcher and JJ Rogan are tapped as the “fresh look” team to reassess the original investigation that led to Amaro’s conviction. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
ALL FALL DOWN by Jennifer Weiner (Fiction)
Allison Weiss frets about the truth of her seemingly happy life: that her husband is becoming distant, that her daughter is acting out, that her father’s early Alzheimer’s is worsening and her mother is barely managing to cope. She tells herself that the pills she’s taking let her make it through her days. But what if her ever-increasing drug use, a habit that’s becoming expensive and hard to hide, is turning into her biggest problem of all? Reviewed by Bronwyn Miller.
THE ARSONIST by Sue Miller (Psychological Suspense)
Houses are going up in flames, and not by accident, in a rural New Hampshire community, setting off sparks in the town and its people. This quietly passionate novel from the bestselling author of WHILE I WAS GONE and THE SENATOR’S WIFE builds up plenty of suspense about who set the fires, but the real mysteries it addresses are those of the human heart. Reviewed by Kathy Weissman.
A BETTER WORLD: The Brilliance Saga, Book Two by Marcus Sakey (Science Fiction/Thriller)
A terrorist network led by brilliants has crippled three cities. Nick Cooper has always fought to make the world better for his children. As both a brilliant and an advisor to the president of the United States, he’s against everything the terrorists represent. But as America slides toward a devastating civil war, Cooper is forced to play a game he dares not lose --- because his opponents have their own vision of a better world. And to reach it, they’re willing to burn this one down. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
COP TOWN by Karin Slaughter (Thriller)
As a brutal murder and a furious manhunt rock Atlanta’s police department in 1974, Kate Murphy wonders if her first day on the job will also be her last. When she and her new partner, Maggie Lawson, are pushed out of the citywide search for a cop killer, their fury, pain and pride finally reach the boiling point. They pursue their own line of investigation, risking everything as they venture into the city’s darkest heart. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
THE FARM by Tom Rob Smith (Thriller)
Daniel believed that his parents were enjoying a peaceful retirement on a remote farm in Sweden. But with a single phone call, everything changes. Caught between his parents, and unsure of who to believe or trust, Daniel becomes his mother's unwilling judge and jury as she tells him an urgent tale of secrets, of lies, of a crime and a conspiracy that implicates his own father. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
THE GLASS KITCHEN by Linda Francis Lee (Fiction)
After a string of betrayals and the loss of her legacy, Portia Cuthcart is determined to start a new life with her sisters in Manhattan…and never cook again. But when Portia moves into a dilapidated brownstone on the Upper West Side, she meets 12-year-old Ariel and her widowed father, Gabriel. Soon, a promise made to her sisters forces Portia back into a world of magical food and swirling emotions, where she must confront everything she has been running from. Reviewed by Terry Miller Shannon.
HANGMAN by Stephan Talty (Thriller)
Not so long ago, serial killer Marcus Flynn preyed upon the community’s teenage daughters --- until he was cornered and shot in the head. But Flynn lived, carrying to prison the nickname “Hangman,” along with the secret of his last victim’s fate. Homicide cop Abbie Kearney wasn’t around during Hangman’s reign of terror and had never experienced firsthand his horror. Until now. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
THE HURRICANE SISTERS by Dorothea Benton Frank (Fiction)
Dorothea Benton Frank once again takes us deep into the heart of her magical South Carolina Lowcountry. There we meet three generations of women buried in secrets. The determined matriarch, Maisie Pringle, will have the final word on everything, especially when she's dead wrong. Her daughter, Liz, has an emotionally demanding career that will eventually open all their eyes to a terrible truth. And Liz's daughter, Ashley, has dreamy ambitions of her unlikely future that keeps them all at odds. Reviewed by Amie Taylor.
INVISIBLE by James Patterson and David Ellis (Thriller)
Everyone thinks Emmy Dockery is crazy. Obsessed with finding the link between hundreds of unsolved cases, Emmy has taken leave from her job as an FBI researcher. Not even Emmy's ex-boyfriend, field agent Harrison "Books" Bookman, will believe her that hundreds of kidnappings, rapes and murders are all connected. That is, until she finds a piece of evidence he can't afford to ignore. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
THE LAST MAGAZINE by Michael Hastings (Fiction)
The year is 2002. Weekly news magazines dominate the political agenda in New York and Washington. A young journalist named Michael M. Hastings is a 22-year-old intern at The Magazine who will stop at nothing to turn his internship into a full-time position. As Hastings loses his naïveté about the journalism game, he must choose where his loyalties lie --- with the men atThe Magazine who can advance his career, or with his friend in the field who is reporting the truth. Reviewed by Roz Shea.
LET THE TORNADO COME: A Memoir by Rita Zoey Chin (Memoir)
Rita Zoey Chin survives her harrowing childhood to become a prize-winning writer and the wife of a promising surgeon. But when she is suddenly besieged by terrifying panic attacks, her past trauma threatens her hard-won happiness. Within weeks, she is incapacitated with fear --- literally afraid of her own shadow. Realizing that she is facing a life of psychological imprisonment, Rita undertakes a journey to find help through a variety of treatments. Reviewed by Miriam Tuliao.
LITTLE MERCIES by Heather Gudenkauf (Fiction)
Veteran social worker Ellen Moore has seen the worst side of humanity --- the vilest acts one person can commit against another. She is a fiercely dedicated children's advocate and a devoted mother and wife. But one blistering summer day, a simple moment of distraction will have repercussions that Ellen could never have imagined, threatening to shatter everything she holds dear, and trapping her between the gears of the system for which she works. Reviewed by Alexis Burling.
MAMBO IN CHINATOWN by Jean Kwok (Fiction)
Twenty-two-year-old Charlie Wong grew up in New York’s Chinatown, the older daughter of a Beijing ballerina and a noodle maker. Now grown, she lives in the same tiny apartment with her widower father and her 11-year-old sister. But when she lands a job as a receptionist at a ballroom dance studio, Charlie gains access to a world she hardly knew existed, and everything she once took to be certain turns upside down. Reviewed by Jane Krebs.
MY SALINGER YEAR by Joanna Rakoff (Memoir)
At 23, after leaving graduate school to pursue her dreams of becoming a poet, Joanna Rakoff moves to New York City and takes a job as assistant to the storied literary agent for J. D. Salinger. She is tasked with answering Salinger’s voluminous fan mail. Drawn inexorably into the emotional world of Salinger’s devotees, she abandons the agency’s form response and begins writing back herself. Over the course of the year, she finds her own voice by acting as Salinger’s, on her own dangerous and liberating terms. Reviewed by Damian Van Denburgh.
THE NEVER NEVER SISTERS by L. Alison Heller (Fiction)
Marriage counselor Paige Reinhardt is eager to reconnect with her workaholic husband at their cozy rental cottage in the Hamptons. But soon a mysterious crisis at Dave’s work ruins their summer getaway plans. Paige is still figuring out how to handle the unexplained chill in her marriage when her troubled sister suddenly returns after a two-decade silence. As she attempts to dig deeper into Dave’s work troubles and some long-held family secrets, she is shocked to discover how little she knows about the people closest to her. Reviewed by Donna Smallwood.
THE RED ROOM: A Risk Agent Novel by Ridley Pearson (Thriller)
John Knox is pressured into accepting a job as an art broker in the mysterious Istanbul. It is a melting pot of spies, terrorists and conflicting interests. Teamed with smart, quick and fearless Grace Chu, Knox must navigate a murky operation, the only goal of which is to spend five minutes in the proximity of a man they’ve never met. Why? What can it possibly matter? And why are so many others bound and determined to see it never happens --- at any cost? Reviewed by Ray Palen.
ROBERT LUDLUM'S THE BOURNE ASCENDANCY by Eric Van Lustbader (Thriller/Adventure)
Jason Bourne has been hired to impersonate a high-level government minister at a political summit meeting in Qatar, shielding the minister from any assassination attempts. Suddenly, armed gunmen storm the room, killing everyone but Bourne. Their target, however, is Bourne himself. Kidnapped and transported to an underground bunker, Bourne must make a monstrous choice: save fellow captive (and close friend) Soraya and her daughter, or save the President. Reviewed by Ray Palen.
SAINTS OF NEW YORK by R.J. Ellory (Thriller)
The death of a young heroin dealer causes no great concern for NYPD Detective Frank Parrish --- Danny Lange is just another casualty of the drug war. But when Danny’s teenage sister winds up dead, questions are raised that have no clear answers. As the homicides continue --- and a disturbing pattern emerges --- Frank tries desperately to make some sense of the deaths, while battling with his own demons. Reviewed by L. Dean Murphy.
THE SHADOW YEAR by Hannah Richell (Fiction)
Still grieving the death of her prematurely delivered infant, Lila finds a welcome distraction in renovating a country house she's recently inherited. She finds herself drawn into the story of a group of idealistic university grads from 30 years before, who'd thrown off the shackles of bourgeois city life. When the fate of the group is left eerily unclear, Lila turns her attention to untangling a web of secrets to uncover the shocking truth of what happened that fateful year. Reviewed by Sarah Rachel Egelman.
THE SIXTEENTH OF JUNE by Maya Lang (Fiction)
Leopold Portman, a young IT manager a few years out of college, dreams of settling down and starting a family with his fiancée, Nora. Nora’s best friend, Stephen, Leopold’s brother, privately questions Leo and Nora’s relationship. On June 16, 2004, the three are brought together --- first for a funeral, then for an annual Bloomsday party. As the long-simmering tensions between them come to a head, they are forced to confront the choices of their pasts and their hopes for the future. Reviewed by Shelby Wardlaw.
THE STORIES WE TELL by Patti Callahan Henry (Fiction)
Eve and Teddy Morrison are Savannah’s power couple, but things aren’t as good as they look. Their teenage daughter, Gwen, is rebelling, and Cooper is blaming this on Eve’s preoccupation with work. The Morrison marriage is taut with tension, but when Cooper is involved in a car accident with Eve’s sister, Willa, the questions surrounding the event bring the family close to breaking point. Sifting between the stories, Eve has to find out what really happened --- and just who she believes. Reviewed by Bronwyn Miller.
TAKE THIS MAN: A Memoir by Brando Skyhorse (Memoir)
When he was three years old, Brando Kelly Ulloa was abandoned by his Mexican father. His mother, Maria, dreaming of a more exciting life, saw no reason for her son to live his life as a Mexican just because he started out as one. The life of “Brando Skyhorse,” the American Indian son of an incarcerated political activist, was about to begin. Reviewed by Sarah Rachel Egelman.
TED WILLIAMS, MY FATHER: A Memoir by Claudia Williams (Sports/Memoir)
Claudia Williams, the last surviving child of Ted Williams, recounts her time with one of baseball's brightest stars, offering a rare glimpse inside the Hall of Famer's life after he hung up his spikes. With a fresh insight, she presents an unexpected portrait of Ted Williams as more than the greatest hitter to ever live, but also as a flawed man with a kind heart. Reviewed by Ron Kaplan.
TERMINAL CITY by Linda Fairstein (Mystery/Thriller)
When the body of a young woman is found in the tower suite of the Waldorf Astoria --- one of the most prestigious hotels in Manhattan --- Assistant DA Alex Cooper and Detectives Mike Chapman and Mercer Wallace find themselves hunting for an elusive killer whose only signature is carving a carefully drawn symbol into his victims’ bodies, a symbol that bears a striking resemblance to train tracks. Reviewed by Roz Shea.
THAT NIGHT by Chevy Stevens (Psychological Thriller)
Toni Murphy was 18 when she and her boyfriend, Ryan, were wrongly convicted of the murder of her younger sister. Now she is 34 and back in her hometown, working every day to forge and adjust to a new life on the outside. She's doing everything in her power to avoid violating her parole and going back to prison. But nothing is making that easy. Before Toni can truly move on, she must risk everything to find out the truth and clear her name. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
THIRD RAIL: An Eddy Harkness Novel by Rory Flynn (Mystery)
Eddy Harkness is a brilliant young detective who currently empties parking meters and struggles to redeem his disgraced family name. One night, Harkness’s police-issued Glock disappears. Unable to report the theft, Harkness starts a secret search --- just as a string of fatal accidents lead him to uncover a new, dangerous smart drug, Third Rail. With only a plastic disc gun to protect him, Harkness begins a high-stakes investigation that leads him into the darkest corners of the city. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
THOSE WHO WISH ME DEAD by Michael Koryta (Thriller)
When 14-year-old Jace Wilson witnesses a brutal murder, he is plunged into a new life, issued a false identity and hidden in a wilderness skills program for troubled teens. The plan is to get Jace off the grid while police find the two killers. The result is the start of a nightmare. The killers, known as the Blackwell Brothers, are slaughtering anyone who gets in their way in a methodical quest to reach him. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
TOP SECRET TWENTY-ONE: A Stephanie Plum Novel by Janet Evanovich (Mystery)
Trenton, New Jersey’s favorite used-car dealer, Jimmy Poletti, was caught selling a lot more than used cars out of his dealerships. Now he is out on bail and has missed his date in court, and bounty hunter Stephanie Plum is looking to bring him in. Leads are quickly turning into dead ends, and all too frequently into dead bodies. Even Joe Morelli, the city’s hottest cop, is struggling to find a clue to the suspected killer’s whereabouts. Reviewed by Melody Dean Dimick.
TWO SOLDIERS by Anders Roslund and Börge Hellström (Thriller)
Two 19-year-old boys have spent their young lives establishing a ruthless criminal enterprise, the Råby Warriors. With the recruitment of children as foot soldiers, the Warriors are now poised to become the most powerful syndicate in their Stockholm suburb. After Leon and Gabriel execute a maximum-security prison break, José Pereira, who now heads the Organized Crime and Gang Section in Råby, is joined in his investigation by Chief Superintendent Ewert Grens. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
YOUR FATHERS, WHERE ARE THEY? AND THE PROPHETS, DO THEY LIVE FOREVER? by Dave Eggers (Fiction)
Thomas is in his mid-30s and furious at the world. America isn’t doing all it can to be the best, and he wants restitution for the murder of his friend, Don Banh. So he kidnaps seven people, including his mother and a disabled former Congressman, takes them to an abandoned Army barracks, and interrogates them. Dave Eggers’s latest, written entirely in dialogue, chronicles Thomas’s attempt to find out what happened to his friend, and to America. Reviewed by Michael Magras.
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