AFTERLIFE by Marcus Sakey (Science Fiction/Thriller)
Audiobook available, read by Finty Williams
The last thing FBI agent Will Brody remembers is the explosion. He wakes without a scratch. The building is in ruins. His team is gone. Outside, Chicago is dark. Cars lie abandoned. No planes cross the sky. He’s relieved to spot other people --- until he sees they’re carrying machetes. Claire McCoy, the head of an FBI task force, stands over the body of Will Brody. A terrorist has claimed 18 lives and thrown the nation into panic. Against this horror, something reckless and beautiful happened. She fell in love…with Will Brody. But the line between life and death is narrower than any of us suspect --- and all that matters to Will and Claire is getting back to each other. Reviewed by Ray Palen.
AMANDA WAKES UP by Alisyn Camerota (Fiction)
Audiobook available, read by Alisyn Camerota and Lu Hanessian
When Amanda Gallo lands the job of her dreams at FAIR News --- the coveted morning anchor slot --- she’s finally made it. “Amanda Wakes Up” takes off, but she soon finds her journalistic ideals shredded as she struggles to keep up with the issues in a ratings-crazed madhouse. As the news heats up in a hotly contested election season and a wild-card candidate, former Hollywood actor Victor Fluke, appears on the scene, Amanda’s pressure-cooker job gets hotter as her personal life unravels. Walking a knife’s edge between ambition and survival, and about to break the biggest story of her career, Amanda must decide what she’s willing to give up to get ahead --- and what she needs to hold on to in order to save herself. Reviewed by Megan Elliott.
ANY DREAM WILL DO by Debbie Macomber (Fiction)
Audiobook available, read by Mark Deakins and Laurel Rankin
Shay Benson adored her younger brother, Caden, and that got her into trouble. Pastor Drew Douglas adored his wife. But when he lost her, it was all he could do to focus on his two beautiful kids, and his flock came in a distant third. Shay and Drew meet in church one day and strike up a friendship that, over time, turns into something deeper and possibly romantic. Shay learns to trust again as she, in turn, proves herself trustworthy to her adopted community. But Caden’s return to town and a disastrous secret threaten to undo the life Shay has tried so hard to rebuild. It will take the utmost courage and faith if she and Drew hope to find healing and open their hearts to a brighter future. Reviewed by Susan Miura.
BIBLIOMYSTERIES: Stories of Crime in the World of Books and Bookstores edited by Otto Penzler (Mystery/Short Stories)
If you open your dictionary, you will discover that there is no such word as “bibliomystery.” However, most mystery readers know that the word refers to a mystery story that involves the world of books: a bookshop, a rare volume, a library, a collector or a bookseller. The stories in this unique collection were commissioned by the Mysterious Bookshop and were written by some of the mystery genre’s most distinguished authors --- tough guys like Ken Bruen, Reed Farrel Coleman, Loren D. Estleman, and Mickey Spillane and Max Allan Collins; bestsellers like Nelson DeMille, Anne Perry and Jeffery Deaver; and Edgar winners such as C. J. Box, Thomas H. Cook and Laura Lippman. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
BLAME by Jeff Abbott (Psychological Thriller)
Audiobook available; read by Bailey Carr, Lauren Fortgang, Vanessa Johannson and Greg Tremblay
Two years ago, Jane Norton crashed her car on a lonely road, killing her friend David and leaving her with amnesia. At first, everyone was sympathetic. Then they found Jane's note: I wish we were dead together. From that day, the town turned against her. But even now, Jane is filled with questions: Why were they on that road? Why was she with David? Did she really want to die? Most of all, she must find out who has just written her an anonymous message: I know what really happened. I know what you don't remember...Reviewed by Christine M. Irvin.
CRIME SCENE by Jonathan Kellerman and Jesse Kellerman (Psychological Thriller)
Audiobook available, read by Dennis Boutsikaris
A corpse lying at the bottom of the stairs. A beautiful but troubled young woman. A brutal, decades-old murder. And the man charged with making sense of it all. Clay Edison is a former star athlete turned coroner’s investigator. It’s his job to care for the dead and the people they leave behind. It’s not his job to solve mysteries. But some cases --- and some people --- can’t be resisted. What he discovers will set him on a quest to overturn a hideous injustice, no matter the consequences. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
DEADFALL by Linda Fairstein (Mystery/Thriller)
Audiobook available, read by Barbara Rosenblat
A wild heart beats within New York City. Amid concrete and skyscrapers, the Wildlife Conservation Society works to preserve and protect the animal kingdom both within and beyond the borders of the five boroughs. But dangerous creatures don't always have claws and fangs, as Assistant DA Alexandra Cooper and NYPD detectives Mike Chapman and Mercer Wallace know all too well. Predators lurk close to home, and in the aftermath of the shocking assassination of an iconic public figure --- someone Alex has worked with for years --- the trio must unravel the motive behind the shooting to discover who is the bigger snake: the killer or the victim. Reviewed by Roz Shea.
THE DRIVER by Hart Hanson (Thriller)
Audiobook available, read by Ari Fliakos
Michael Skellig is a limo driver waiting for his client in the alley behind an upscale hotel. Suddenly the wind begins to speak to Skellig in the guttural accent of the Chechen torturer he shot through the eye in Yemen a decade ago: Troubletroubletrouble. Skellig has heard these warnings before --- he’s an Army Special Forces sergeant whose limo company is staffed by a ragtag band of wounded veterans. He runs inside just in time to save Avila from two gunmen but too late for one of Avila’s bodyguards --- and wakes up hours later in the hospital, the only person of interest in custody for the murder. Avila is willing to help clear Skellig’s name under one peculiar condition: that Skellig become Avila’s personal chauffeur. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
THE DYING GAME by Asa Avdic (Dystopian/Psychological Suspense)
Audiobook available; read by Cassandra Campbell, Mark Deakins and Steve West
The year is 2037. The Soviet Union never fell, and much of Europe has been consolidated under the totalitarian Union of Friendship. On the tiny island of Isola, seven people have been selected to compete in a 48-hour test for a top-secret intelligence position. One of them is Anna Francis, a workaholic bureaucrat with a nine-year-old daughter she rarely sees and a secret that haunts her. Her assignment: to stage her own death and then to observe, from her hiding place inside the walls of the house, how the six other candidates react to the news that a murderer is among them. Who will take control? Who will crack under pressure? But then a storm rolls in, the power goes out, and the real game begins. Reviewed by Norah Piehl.
EMMA IN THE NIGHT by Wendy Walker (Psychological Thriller)
Audiobook available, read by Therese Plummer and Julia Whelan
One night three years ago, the Tanner sisters disappeared: 15-year-old Cass and 17-year-old Emma. Three years later, Cass returns, without her sister Emma. Her story is one of kidnapping and betrayal, of a mysterious island where the two were held. But to forensic psychiatrist Dr. Abby Winter, something doesn't add up. Looking deep within this dysfunctional family, Dr. Winter uncovers a life where boundaries were violated and a narcissistic parent held sway. And where one sister's return might just be the beginning of the crime. Reviewed by Norah Piehl.
EVERY DAY ABOVE GROUND: A Van Shaw Novel by Glen Erik Hamilton (Thriller)
A terminally ill ex-con tells Van Shaw of an easy fortune in gold, abandoned and nearly forgotten after its original owner died in prison. For the dying man, the money is a legacy to ensure his preteen daughter’s future. For Van, the gold is cash he desperately needs to rebuild his destroyed family home. However, the safe holding the fortune is a trap --- set by a mysterious player armed with tremendous resources and a lifetime of hatred. Now, Shaw’s partner is in the clutches of the hunters, and the former army ranger may be their next prey. But when the ex-con’s innocent daughter is threatened too, Van’s own hard childhood means he can’t let her come to harm. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
FIERCE KINGDOM by Gin Phillips (Thriller)
Audiobook available, read by Cassandra Campbell
The zoo is nearly empty as Joan and her four-year-old son soak up the last few moments of playtime. They are happy, and the day has been close to perfect. But what Joan sees as she hustles her son toward the exit gate minutes before closing time sends her sprinting back into the zoo, her child in her arms. And for the next three hours, she keeps on running. Joan’s intimate knowledge of her son and of the zoo itself --- the hidden pathways and under-renovation exhibits, the best spots on the carousel and overstocked snack machines --- is all that keeps them a step ahead of danger. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
FINAL GIRLS by Riley Sager (Psychological Thriller)
Audiobook available, read by Erin Bennett and Hillary Huber
Ten years ago, college student Quincy Carpenter went on vacation with five friends and came back alone, the only survivor of a massacre. In an instant, she became a member of a group of similar survivors known in the press as the Final Girls --- which includes Lisa, who lost nine sorority sisters to a college dropout's knife, and Sam, who went up against the Sack Man during her shift at the Nightlight Inn. But when Lisa is found dead in her bathtub with her wrists slit, Sam appears on Quincy's doorstep. She seems intent on making Quincy relive the past, with increasingly dire consequences, all of which makes Quincy question why Sam is really seeking her out. Reviewed by Ray Palen.
THE GODDESSES by Swan Huntley (Psychological Suspense)
Audiobook available, read by Hillary Huber
When Nancy and her family arrive in Kona, Hawaii, they are desperate for a fresh start. Nancy's husband has cheated on her; they sleep in separate bedrooms and their twin sons have been acting out, setting off illegal fireworks. But Nancy resolves to make a happy life for herself. She starts taking a yoga class, where she meets Ana, the charismatic teacher. They are soon spending all their time together, sharing dinners and relaxing in Ana's hot tub. As Nancy grows closer and closer to Ana --- skipping family dinners and leaving the twins to their own devices --- she feels a happiness and understanding unlike anything she's ever experienced, and she knows that she will do anything Ana asks of her. Reviewed by Norah Piehl.
THE GOOD DAUGHTER by Karin Slaughter (Psychological Thriller)
Audiobook available, read by Kathleen Early
Twenty-eight years ago, Charlotte and Samantha Quinn's happy small-town family life was torn apart by a terrifying attack on their family home. It left their mother dead and their father, Pikeville's notorious defense attorney, devastated. And it left the family fractured beyond repair, consumed by secrets from that terrible night. Twenty-eight years later, Charlie has followed in her father's footsteps to become a lawyer herself. But when violence comes to Pikeville again --- and a shocking tragedy leaves the whole town traumatized --- Charlie is plunged into a nightmare. The shocking truth about the crime that destroyed her family nearly 30 years ago won't stay buried forever. Reviewed by Barbara Lipkien Gershenbaum.
LEONA: THE DIE IS CAST by Jenny Rogneby (Hard-boiled Thriller)
Naked and bloody, a seven-year-old girl walks into a bank in central Stockholm in broad daylight and gets away with millions. Leona Lindberg of Stockholm's Violent Crimes Division agrees to work on the case. With a long, distinguished history in the police force, she seems to be the perfect choice. But Leona is grappling with deep issues of her own --- a gambling addiction, a strained marriage --- that could jeopardize the investigation. As she struggles to keep the volatile pieces of her life under control, the line between right and wrong becomes increasingly unclear --- and even irrelevant. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
LIGHTS ON, RATS OUT: A Memoir by Cree LeFavour (Memoir)
Audiobook available, read by Cree Lefavour
As a young college graduate a year into treatment with a psychiatrist, Cree LeFavour began to organize her days around the cruel, compulsive logic of self-harm: with each newly lit cigarette, the world would drop away as her focus narrowed on the blooming release of pleasure-pain as the burning tip was applied to an unblemished patch of skin. Her body was a canvas of cruelty; each scar a mark of pride and shame. LIGHTS ON, RATS OUT brings us closely into these years. We see the world as Cree did --- turned upside down, the richness of life muted and dulled, its pleasures perverted. The heady thrill of meeting with her psychiatrist, Dr. Adam N. Kohl, comes to be the only bright spot in her days. Reviewed by Sarah Rachel Egelman.
LITTLE BOY LOST by J. D. Trafford (Thriller)
Audiobook available, read by JD Jackson
When eight-year-old Tanisha Walker offers attorney Justin Glass a jar full of change to find her missing brother, he doesn’t have the heart to turn her away. Justin had hoped to find the boy alive and well. But all that was found of Devon Walker was his brutally murdered body --- and the bodies of 12 other African American teenagers, all discarded like trash in a mass grave. Each had been reported missing. And none had been investigated. As simmering racial tensions explode into violence, Justin finds himself caught in the tide. And as he gives voice to the discontent plaguing the city’s forgotten and ignored, he vows to search for the killer who preys upon them. Reviewed by Sarah Rachel Egelman.
LOOK BEHIND YOU by Iris Johansen and Roy Johansen (Thriller)
Audiobook available, narrated by Elizabeth Rodgers
A serial killer is on the loose in San Diego with a most unusual M.O. With each kill, the perpetrator leaves behind mystifying random objects. In this confusing array of unrelated evidence, the one thing that is clear is that the murders all have one characteristic in common: they all require the specific skills of Kendra Michaels, hired gun for both the CIA and FBI. Kendra, who was blind for the first 20 years of her life, gained her sight through a revolutionary surgical procedure and now uses her acute powers of observation to assist in cases all over the United States. FBI investigators soon make a startling discovery: the left-behind objects are actually souvenirs of other unsolved serial murder cases from around the country. Reviewed by Judy Gigstad.
THE LOST ONES by Sheena Kamal (Psychological Thriller)
Audiobook available, performed by Bahni Turpin
It begins with a phone call that Nora Watts has dreaded for 15 years --- since the day she gave her newborn daughter up for adoption. Bonnie has vanished. The police consider her a chronic runaway and aren’t looking, leaving her desperate adoptive parents to reach out to her birth mother as a last hope. Caring despite herself, Nora sets out to find Bonnie, knowing she risks reopening wounds that have never really healed --- and plunging into the darkness with little to protect her but her instincts and a freakish ability to detect truth from lies. The search uncovers a puzzling conspiracy that leads Nora on a harrowing journey of deception and violence. Reviewed by Dunja Bonacci Skenderovic.
THE LYING GAME by Ruth Ware (Psychological Thriller)
Audiobook available, read by Imogen Church
Three women in and around London --- Fatima, Thea and Isabel --- receive the text they had always hoped would NEVER come, from the fourth in their formerly inseparable clique, Kate, that says only, “I need you.” The four girls were best friends at Salten, a second-rate boarding school, and were notorious for playing the Lying Game, telling lies at every turn to both fellow boarders and faculty. But their little game had consequences, and the girls were all expelled in their final year of school under mysterious circumstances surrounding the death of the school’s eccentric art teacher, Ambrose (who also happens to be Kate’s father). Reviewed by Roz Shea.
MADAME ZERO: 9 Stories by Sarah Hall (Fiction/Short Stories)
Audiobook available, performed by Billie Fulford-Brown
In this collection of nine works of short fiction, Sarah Hall uses her piercing insight to plumb the depth of the female experience and the human soul. A husband’s wife transforms into a vulpine in "Mrs. Fox," winner of the BBC Short Story Prize. In "Case Study 2,” a social worker struggles with a foster child raised in a commune. A new mother runs into an old lover in "Luxury Hour." In prose that is full of rich observations and striking clarity, Hall has composed nine wholly original pieces --- works of fiction that will resonate long after the final page is turned. Reviewed by Sarah Rachel Egelman.
MADE FOR LOVE by Alissa Nutting (Fiction)
Audiobook available, performed by Suzanne Elise Freeman
Hazel has moved into a trailer park of senior citizens after running out on her marriage to Byron Gogol. For over a decade, Hazel put up with being veritably quarantined by Byron in the family compound, her every movement and vital sign tracked. But when he demands to wirelessly connect the two of them via brain chips in a first-ever human “mind-meld,” Hazel decides what was once merely irritating has become unbearable. As she tries to carve out a new life for herself, Byron is using the most sophisticated tools at his disposal to find her and bring her home. Hazel is forced to take drastic measures in order to find a home of her own and free herself from Byron’s virtual clutches once and for all. Reviewed by Harvey Freedenberg.
THE MARRIAGE PACT by Michelle Richmond (Psychological Thriller)
Audiobook available, read by Tom Taylorson
Newlyweds Alice and Jake are a picture-perfect couple, and their life together holds endless possibilities. After receiving an enticing wedding gift from one of Alice’s prominent clients, they decide to join an exclusive and mysterious group known only as The Pact. The goal of The Pact seems simple: to keep marriages happy and intact. But the young lovers will soon discover that for adherents to The Pact, membership, like marriage, is for life. And The Pact will go to any lengths to enforce that rule. For Jake and Alice, the marriage of their dreams is about to become their worst nightmare. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
THE MISFORTUNE OF MARION PALM by Emily Culliton (Fiction)
Audiobook available, read by Saskia Maarleveld
Marion Palm prefers not to think of herself as a thief but rather "a woman who embezzles." Over the years she has managed to steal $180,000 from her daughters' private school, money that has paid for European vacations, a Sub-Zero refrigerator, and perpetually unused state-of-the-art exercise equipment. But now, when the school faces an audit, Marion pulls piles of rubber-banded cash from their basement hiding places and flees, leaving her family to grapple with the baffled detectives, the irate school board, and the mother-shaped hole in their house. Reviewed by Norah Piehl.
MORNINGSTAR: Growing Up With Books by Ann Hood (Memoir/Essays)
Audiobook available, read by Donna Postel
Growing up in a mill town in Rhode Island, in a household that didn’t foster a love of literature, Ann Hood discovered nonetheless the transformative power of books. She learned to channel her imagination, ambitions and curiosity by devouring ever-growing stacks. In MORNINGSTAR, Hood recollects how THE BELL JAR, MARJORIE MORNINGSTAR, THE HARRAD EXPERIMENT and THE OUTSIDERS influenced her teen psyche and introduced her to topics that could not be discussed at home. Later, JOHNNY GOT HIS GUN and THE GRAPES OF WRATH dramatically influenced her political thinking, while the Vietnam War and the Kent State shootings became headline news. Reviewed by Carole Turner.
MOTHEREST by Kristen Iskandrian (Fiction)
Audiobook available, read by Lauren Fortgang
It's the early 1990s, and Agnes is running out of people she can count on. A new college student, she is caught between the broken home she leaves behind and the wilderness of campus life. What she needs most is her mother, who has seemingly disappeared, and her brother, who left the family tragically a few years prior. As Agnes falls into a new romance, mines female friendships for intimacy, and struggles to find her footing, she writes letters to her mother, both to conjure a closeness they never had and to try to translate her experiences to herself. When she finds out she is pregnant, Agnes begins to contend with what it means to be a mother and, in some ways, what it means to be your own mother. Reviewed by Norah Piehl.
MRS. FLETCHER by Tom Perrotta (Fiction)
Audiobook available, read by Carrie Coon and Finn Wittrock
A 46-year-old divorcee whose beloved only child has just left for college, Eve Fletcher is struggling to adjust to her empty nest when one night her phone lights up with a text message. Sent from an anonymous number, the mysterious sender tells Eve, “U R my MILF!” Over the months that follow, that message comes to obsess Eve, who can’t curtail her interest in MILFateria.com, which features the erotic exploits of ordinary, middle-aged women like herself. Meanwhile, Eve’s son Brendan discovers that his new campus isn’t nearly as welcoming to his hard-partying lifestyle as he had imagined. Both mother and son find themselves enmeshed in morally fraught situations that come to a head on one fateful November night. Reviewed by Eileen Zimmerman Nicol.
PARADISE VALLEY by C. J. Box (Mystery/Thriller)
Audiobook available, read by Christina Delaine
For three years, Investigator Cassie Dewell has been on the hunt for a serial killer known as the Lizard King, whose hunting grounds are the highways and truck stops where runaways and prostitutes are most likely to vanish. Working for the Bakken County, North Dakota sheriff's department, Cassie has lured him and his truck to a depot. But her plan goes horribly wrong, and consequently she loses her job. At the same time, Kyle Westergaard, a troubled kid whom Cassie has taken under her wing, has disappeared after telling people that he’s going off on a long-planned adventure. Kyle's grandmother begs Cassie to find him, and Cassie agrees --- all the while hunting the truck driver. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
THE QUIET CHILD by John Burley (Historical/Psychological Thriller)
Audiobook available, performed by MacLeod Andrews
It's the summer of 1954, and the residents of Cottonwood, California are dying. At the center of it all is six-year-old Danny McCray, a strange and silent child who appears to bring ruin to those around him. Even his own mother is plagued by an illness that is slowly consuming her. Sheriff Jim Kent has watched the people of his town suffer, increasingly aware of the whispers and rumors surrounding the boy --- and he worries someone might take drastic action to protect their loved ones. Then a stranger arrives, and Danny and his 10-year-old brother Sean go missing. In the search that follows, everyone is a suspect, and the consequences of finding the two brothers may be worse than not finding them at all. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
RED LIGHT RUN: Linked Stories by Baird Harper (Fiction/Short Stories)
Audiobook available, read by Charles Carroll
When two cars collide at an intersection in a leafy Chicago suburb, Hartley Nolan is not the person police expect to find behind the wheel. After all, he barely drinks; everyone knows it’s his wife who’s the alcoholic. But the bigger question on people’s minds is what brought Sonia Senn, dead at the scene, back to her hometown in such a hurry that night? In 11 tightly linked stories, RED LIGHT RUN pulls us into the inner lives of Hartley, Sonia and a host of other characters to untangle the mounting forces that carry them to their fates. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
THREE MINUTES by Anders Roslund and Börge Hellström (Thriller)
Presumed dead by the Stockholm police, master criminal and undercover informant Piet Hoffmann is now on the run from the Swedish authorities, living with his wife and two young sons under an assumed name in Cali, Colombia. Only Hoffmann's former police handler, Erik Wilson, knows where he is --- and that he has accepted two dangerous new jobs: one as a high-level enforcer for a Colombian cocaine cartel, and one as an infiltrator for the DEA, working to bring the cartel down. The FBI even lends credence to his cover story by adding Hoffmann's alias to the Most Wanted list. But when the Speaker of the House is kidnapped by the cartel during an official visit to Colombia, everything changes --- fast. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
WATCH ME DISAPPEAR by Janelle Brown (Mystery/Thriller)
Audiobook available, read by Tavia Gilbert with Kaleo Griffith
It’s been a year since Billie Flanagan went on a solo hike in Desolation Wilderness and vanished from the trail. Her husband and teenage daughter have been coping with Billie’s death the best they can: Jonathan drinks as he works on a loving memoir about his marriage; Olive grows remote, from both her father and her friends at the all-girls school she attends. But then Olive starts having strange visions of her mother, still alive. Jonathan worries about Olive’s emotional stability, until he starts unearthing secrets from Billie’s past that bring into question everything he thought he understood about his wife. Together, Olive and Jonathan embark on a quest for the truth. Reviewed by Rebecca Munro.