ALL ROADS END HERE by David Moody (Science Fiction/Horror)
Audiobook available, read by Gerard Doyle
It’s taken Matthew Dunne almost three months to get home. Never more than a few meters from the Haters at any time, every single step has been fraught with danger. But he’s made it. In his absence, his home city has become a sprawling, walled-off refugee camp. But the camp --- and the entire world beyond its borders --- is balanced on a knife-edge. During his time in the wilderness, Matt developed a skill that is in high demand: the ability to anticipate and predict Hater behavior. It’s these skills that will thrust him into a web of subterfuge and danger. As the pressure mounts inside the camp, he finds himself under scrutiny from all sides. Reviewed by Christine M. Irvin.
BEAUTIFUL BAD by Annie Ward (Psychological Thriller)
Audiobook available; read by Xe Sands, Vivienne Leheny and Paul Fox
Maddie and Ian's love story began with a chance encounter at a party overseas; he was serving in the British army, and she was a travel writer visiting her best friend, Jo. Now almost two decades later, married with a beautiful son, Charlie, they are living the perfect suburban life in Middle America. But when a camping accident leaves Maddie badly scarred, she begins attending writing therapy, where she gradually reveals her fears about Ian's PTSD; her concerns for the safety of their young son; and the couple’s tangled and tumultuous past with Jo. Sixteen years of love and fear, adventure and suspicion culminate in The Day of the Killing, when a frantic 911 call summons the police to the scene of a shocking crime. Reviewed by Rebecca Munro.
BEFORE SHE KNEW HIM by Peter Swanson (Psychological Thriller)
Audiobook available, read by Sophie Amoss and Graham Halstead
Hen and her husband, Lloyd, have settled into a quiet life in a new house outside of Boston, Massachusetts. Hen has found the right meds to control her bipolar disorder, and finally has some stability and peace. But when they meet the neighbors next door, that calm begins to erode as she spots a familiar object displayed on the husband’s office shelf. The sports trophy looks exactly like one that went missing from the home of a young man who was killed two years ago. Could her neighbor, Matthew, be a killer? Or is this the beginning of another psychotic episode like the one she suffered back in college? When she comes face to face with Matthew in a dark parking lot one night, she realizes that this is the beginning of a horrifying nightmare she may not live to escape. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
BLOOD FOR BLOOD by Victoria Selman (Psychological Thriller)
Audiobook available, read by Karen Cass
Rush hour, London. A packed commuter train is torn apart in a collision. Picking through the carnage, ex-special forces profiler Ziba MacKenzie helps a dying woman who passes on a cryptic message: He did it. You have to tell someone. When a corpse is found bearing the gruesome signature of a serial killer dormant for 25 years, Ziba is pulled into the hunt for the perpetrator. As the body count rises, it becomes clear he’s on a new spree. But what’s brought the London Lacerator back after such a long hiatus? And does his sudden return have anything to do with the woman on the train? Ziba scrambles to profile the killer in the hope of predicting his next move. But time is running out. Reviewed by Kate Ayers.
THE BOOK OF DELIGHTS: Essays by Ross Gay (Essays)
Audiobook available, read by Ross Gay
Ross Gay’s THE BOOK OF DELIGHTS is a genre-defying book of essays --- some as short as a paragraph, some as long as five pages --- that records the small joys that occurred in one year, from birthday to birthday, and that we often overlook in our busy lives. His is a meditation on delight that takes a clear-eyed view of the complexities, even the terrors, in his life, including living in America as a black man; the ecological and psychic violence of our consumer culture; and the loss of those he loves. More than any other subject, though, Gay celebrates the beauty of the natural world --- his garden, the flowers in the sidewalk, the birds, the bees, the mushrooms and the trees. Reviewed by Harvey Freedenberg.
THE BORDER by Don Winslow (Thriller)
Audiobook available, read by Ray Porter
Art Keller’s obsession to defeat the world’s most powerful, wealthy and lethal kingpin --- the godfather of the Sinaloa Cartel, Adán Barrera --- has left him bloody and scarred, and cost him the people he loves. Now Keller is elevated to the highest ranks of the DEA, only to find that in destroying one monster he has created 30 more that are wreaking even more chaos and suffering in his beloved Mexico. But Barrera’s final legacy is the heroin epidemic scourging America. Throwing himself into the gap to stem the deadly flow, Keller finds himself surrounded by men who want to kill him and an incoming administration that’s in bed with the very drug traffickers Keller is trying to bring down. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
THE CARE AND FEEDING OF RAVENOUSLY HUNGRY GIRLS by Anissa Gray (Fiction)
Audiobook available; read by January LaVoy, Adenrele Ojo, Bahni Turpin and Dominic Hoffman
The Butler family has had their share of trials --- as sisters Althea, Viola and Lillian can attest --- but nothing prepared them for the literal trial that will upend their lives. Althea, the eldest sister and substitute matriarch, is a force to be reckoned with, and her younger sisters have alternately appreciated and chafed at her strong will. They are as stunned as the rest of the small community when she and her husband, Proctor, are arrested, and in a heartbeat the family goes from one of the most respected in town to utter disgrace. As Althea awaits her fate, Lillian and Viola must come together in the house they grew up in to care for their sister’s teenage daughters. Reviewed by Dunja Bonacci Skenderović.
CEMETERY ROAD by Greg Iles (Thriller)
Audiobook available, read by Scott Brick
When Marshall McEwan left his Mississippi hometown at 18, he vowed never to return. The trauma that drove him away spurred him to become one of the most successful journalists in Washington, D.C. But as the ascendancy of a chaotic administration lifts him from print fame to television stardom, Marshall discovers that his father is terminally ill, and he must return home to face the unfinished business of his past. On arrival, he finds Bienville, Mississippi very much changed. The exclusive Poker Club has taken a town on the brink of extinction and offered it salvation, in the form of a billion-dollar Chinese paper mill. But on the verge of the deal being consummated, two murders rock Bienville to its core, threatening far more than the city’s economic future. Reviewed by Ray Palen.
THE CHEF by James Patterson with Max DiLallo (Thriller)
Audiobook available, read by Micheal Ziants
In the Carnival days leading up Mardi Gras, Detective Caleb Rooney comes under investigation for a murder he is accused of committing in the line of duty --- as a Major Crimes detective for the New Orleans Police Department. Has his sideline at the Killer Chef food truck given him a taste for murder? While fighting the charges against him, Rooney makes a pair of unthinkable discoveries. His beloved city is under threat of attack. And these would-be terrorists may be local. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
DAISY JONES & THE SIX by Taylor Jenkins Reid (Fiction)
Audiobook available; read by Jennifer Beals, Benjamin Bratt, Judy Greer, Robinne Lee, Pablo Schreiber and a full cast
Daisy is a girl coming of age in L.A. in the late '60s, sneaking into clubs on the Sunset Strip, sleeping with rock stars, and dreaming of singing at the Whisky a Go Go. The sex and drugs are thrilling, but it’s the rock and roll she loves most. By the time she’s 20, her voice is getting noticed, and she has the kind of heedless beauty that makes people do crazy things. Also getting noticed is The Six, a band led by the brooding Billy Dunne. On the eve of their first tour, his girlfriend Camila finds out she’s pregnant, and with the pressure of impending fatherhood and fame, Billy goes a little wild on the road. Daisy and Billy cross paths when a producer realizes that the key to supercharged success is to put the two together. What happens next will become the stuff of legend. Reviewed by Norah Piehl.
DANNEMORA: Two Escaped Killers, Three Weeks of Terror, and the Largest Manhunt Ever in New York State by Charles A. Gardner (True Crime)
Audiobook available, read by Jonathan Yen
In June 2015, two vicious convicted murderers broke out of the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, in New York’s North Country, launching the most extensive manhunt in state history. Aided by prison employee Joyce Mitchell, double murderer Richard Matt and cop-killer David Sweat slipped out of their cells. For three weeks, the residents of local communities were virtual prisoners in their own homes as law enforcement from across the nation swept the rural wilderness near the Canadian border. Charles A. Gardner --- a lifelong resident of the community and a former corrections officer who began his training at Clinton --- tells the whole story from an insider's point of view. Reviewed by Ray Palen.
THE DNA OF YOU AND ME by Andrea Rothman (Fiction)
Audiobook available, read by Tavia Gilbert
How does smell work? Specifically, how do olfactory sensory neurons reach their targets in the brain, where smell is processed? Justin McKinnon has hired Emily Apell to study that question. What Justin hasn’t told Emily is that two other scientists in the lab, Aeden and Allegra, are working on a very similar topic, and their findings may compete with her research. To Emily’s great surprise, her rational mind is unsettled by Aeden. As they shift from competitors to colleagues, and then to something more, Emily allows herself to see a future in which she doesn’t end up alone. But when Aeden decides to leave the lab, it becomes clear to Emily that she must make a choice: follow her research or follow her heart. Reviewed by Norah Piehl.
THE FIRST LADY by James Patterson and Brendan DuBois (Political Thriller)
Audiobook available, read by Deborah McBride
Sally Grissom is a top secret service agent in charge of the Presidential Protection team. She knows that something is amiss when she is summoned to a private meeting with the President and his Chief of Staff without any witnesses. But she couldn't have predicted that she'd be forced to take on an investigation surrounding the mysterious disappearance of the First Lady --- with strict orders to keep it a secret. The First Lady's absence comes in the wake of the scandalous, public revelation of the president's affair, so at first it seems as though she is simply cutting off all contact. What begins as an innocent respite quickly reveals itself as a twisted case when the White House receives a ransom note along with the First Lady's finger. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
HER FATHER'S SECRET by Sara Blaedel (Thriller)
Audiobook available, read by Molly Parker Myers
After suddenly inheriting a funeral home from her father --- who she hadn't heard from in decades --- Ilka Jensen has impulsively abandoned her quiet life in Denmark to visit the small town in rural Wisconsin where her father lived. There, she's devastated to discover her father's second family: a stepmother and two half-sisters she never knew existed and who aren't the least bit welcoming, despite Ilka's efforts to reach out. Then a local woman is killed, seemingly the unfortunate victim of a home invasion turned violent. But when Ilka learns that the woman knew her father, it becomes increasingly clear that she may not have been a completely random victim after all. Reviewed by Ray Palen.
HOUSE ON FIRE by Bonnie Kistler (Fiction)
Audiobook available, read by Cassandra Campbell
Divorce lawyer Leigh Huyett knows all too well that most second marriages are doomed to fail. But five years in, she and Pete Conley have a perfectly blended family of her children and his. To celebrate their anniversary, they grab some precious moments of alone time and leave Pete’s son Kip, a high school senior, in charge of Leigh’s 14-year-old daughter Chrissy at their home. Driving back on a rainy Friday night, their cell phones start ringing. After a raucous party celebrating his college acceptance to Duke and his upcoming birthday, Kip was arrested for drunk driving after his truck crashed into a tree. And he wasn’t alone --- Chrissy was with him. Twelve hours later, Chrissy is dead and Kip is charged with manslaughter. Reviewed by Rebecca Munro.
HUNTING GAME written by Helene Tursten, translated by Paul Norlen (Mystery)
Audiobook available, read by Stina Nielsen
Embla Nyström has been plagued by chronic nightmares and racing thoughts ever since she can remember. She has learned to channel most of her anxious energy into her position as Detective Inspector in the mobile unit in Gothenburg, Sweden, and into sports. A talented hunter and prize-winning Nordic welterweight, she is glad to be taking a vacation from her high-stress job to attend the annual moose hunt with her family and friends. But a string of unsettling incidents culminate in the disappearance of two hunters. Embla takes charge of the search, and they soon find one of the missing men floating face down in the nearby lake. With the help of local reinforcements, Embla delves into the dark pasts of her fellow hunters in search of a killer. Reviewed by Barbara Lipkien Gershenbaum.
THE HUNTRESS by Kate Quinn (Historical Fiction)
Audiobook available, read by Saskia Maarleveld
When the Nazis attack the Soviet Union, Nina Markova risks everything to join the legendary Night Witches, an all-female night bomber regiment. When she is stranded behind enemy lines, Nina becomes the prey of a lethal Nazi murderess known as the Huntress. Transformed by the horrors he witnessed, British war correspondent Ian Graham has become a Nazi hunter. Yet one target eludes him: a vicious predator known as the Huntress. To find her, the fierce, disciplined investigator joins forces with the only witness to escape the Huntress alive: the brazen, cocksure Nina. But a shared secret could derail their mission unless Ian and Nina force themselves to confront it. Reviewed by Rebecca Wasniak.
THE ISLAND OF SEA WOMEN by Lisa See (Historical Fiction)
Audiobook available, read by Jennifer Lim
Mi-ja and Young-sook, two girls living on the Korean island of Jeju, are best friends who come from very different backgrounds. When they are old enough, they begin working in the sea with their village’s all-female diving collective, led by Young-sook’s mother. As the girls take up their positions as baby divers, they know they are beginning a life of excitement and responsibility but also danger. Little do they know that after surviving hundreds of dives and developing the closest of bonds, forces outside their control will push their friendship to the breaking point. Reviewed by Roz Shea.
THE LAST ACT by Brad Parks (Thriller)
Audiobook available, read by Graham Halstead
Tommy Jump is an out-of-work stage actor approached by the FBI with the role of a lifetime: Go undercover at a federal prison, impersonate a convicted felon, and befriend a fellow inmate --- a disgraced banker named Mitchell Dupree, who knows the location of documents that can be used to bring down a ruthless drug cartel…if only he’d tell the FBI where they are. Using a false name and backstory, Tommy enters the low-security prison and begins the process of befriending Dupree. But he soon realizes he’s underestimated the enormity of his task and the terrifying reach of the cartel. The FBI isn’t the only one looking for the documents, and if Tommy doesn’t play his role to perfection, it just may be his last act. Reviewed by Ray Palen.
LONG LIVE THE TRIBE OF FATHERLESS GIRLS: A Memoir by T Kira Madden (Memoir)
Acclaimed literary essayist T Kira Madden's debut memoir is about coming of age and reckoning with desire as a queer, biracial teenager amidst the fierce contradictions of Boca Raton, Florida, a place where she found cult-like privilege, shocking racial disparities, rampant white-collar crime, and powerfully destructive standards of beauty hiding in plain sight. As a child, Madden lived a life of extravagance, but under the surface was a wild instability. The only child of parents continually battling drug and alcohol addictions, Madden confronted her environment alone. Facing a culture of assault and objectification, she found lifelines in the desperately loving friendships of fatherless girls. Reviewed by Norah Piehl.
THE LOST GIRLS OF PARIS by Pam Jenoff (Historical Fiction)
Audiobook available; read by Elizabeth Knowelden, Henrietta Meire and Candace Thaxton
One morning while passing through Grand Central Terminal, Grace Healey finds an abandoned suitcase tucked beneath a bench. Unable to resist her own curiosity, Grace opens the suitcase, where she discovers a dozen photographs --- each of a different woman. She soon learns that the suitcase belonged to Eleanor Trigg, leader of a network of female secret agents who were deployed out of London during the war. Twelve of these women were sent to Occupied Europe as couriers and radio operators to aid the resistance, but they never returned home. Setting out to learn the truth behind these women, Grace finds herself drawn to a young mother turned agent whose daring mission overseas reveals a remarkable story of friendship, valor and betrayal. Reviewed by Rebecca Munro.
THE MALTA EXCHANGE by Steve Berry (Thriller)
Audiobook available, read by Scott Brick
Former Justice Department operative Cotton Malone is at Lake Como, Italy, on the trail of legendary letters between Winston Churchill and Benito Mussolini that disappeared in 1945 and could rewrite history. But someone else seems to be after the same letters, and when Malone obtains then loses them, he’s plunged into a hunt that draws the attention of the legendary Knights of Malta. They are now a global humanitarian organization, but within their ranks lurks trouble --- the Secreti --- an ancient sect intent on affecting the coming papal conclave. With the help of Magellan Billet agent Luke Daniels, Malone races the rogue cardinal, the knights, the Secreti and the clock to find what has been lost for centuries. Reviewed by Ray Palen.
ME FOR YOU by Lolly Winston (Fiction)
Audiobook available, read by Cassandra Campbell and George Newbern
Ten months after the untimely death of his beloved wife, 54-year-old Rudy is still not sure how to move on from the defining tragedy of his life. But his new job is helping. After being downsized from his finance position, Rudy began working as the piano player at Nordstrom. Sasha, the Hungarian men’s watch clerk who is finally divorcing her no-good husband, finds time to join him at the bench every now and then. Just when Rudy and Sasha’s relationship begins to deepen, the police come to the store with an update about Rudy’s wife’s death --- a coworker has confessed to her murder --- but Rudy’s actions are suspicious enough to warrant a second look at him, too. Reviewed by Pamela Kramer.
MOTHER COUNTRY by Irina Reyn (Fiction)
Audiobook available, read by Kathleen Gati
Nadia's daily life in south Brooklyn is filled with small indignities. As a senior home attendant, she is always in danger of being fired; as a part-time nanny, she is forced to navigate the demands of her spoiled charge and the preschooler's insecure mother; and as an ethnic Russian, she finds herself feuding with western Ukrainian immigrants who think she is a traitor. The war back home is always at the forefront of her reality. Nadia internalizes notions of "union" all around her, but the one reunion she has been waiting six years for --- with her beloved daughter --- is being eternally delayed by the Department of Homeland Security. When Nadia finds out that her daughter has lost access to the medicine she needs to survive, she takes matters into her own hands. Reviewed by Norah Piehl.
THE NEXT TO DIE by Sophie Hannah (Psychological Thriller)
Audiobook available, read by Julia Barrie
A psychopath the police have dubbed “Billy Dead Mates” is targeting pairs of best friends, and killing them one by one. Before they die, each victim is given a small white book. For months, detectives have failed to catch Billy, or figure out what the white books symbolize and why the killer leaves them behind. Then a woman, scared by what she’s seen on the news, comes forward. What she reveals shocks the investigators and adds another troubling layer to an already complex case. Stand-up comedian Kim Tribbeck has one of Billy’s peculiar little books. A stranger gave it to her at a gig she did last year. Was the stranger Billy, and is he targeting her --- or is it something more nefarious? Reviewed by Ray Palen.
THE PERFECT ALIBI by Phillip Margolin (Legal Thriller)
Audiobook available, read by Therese Plummer
A young woman accuses a prominent local college athlete of rape, which leads to a conviction with the help of indisputable DNA evidence. Not long after, there's another rape and the DNA test shows that the same person committed both rapes. Now, the convicted athlete is granted a new trial and bail. Shortly thereafter, his original lawyer disappears and his law partner is murdered. Robin Lockwood is representing the victim of the first rape for her civil lawsuit against her rapist, who is now convinced that the rapist is stalking her and trying to intimidate her. At the same time, another client is up on a murder charge --- one that should be dismissed as self-defense --- but the D.A. trying the case is determined to bring it to trial. Reviewed by Kate Ayers.
THE PRIORY OF THE ORANGE TREE by Samantha Shannon (Fantasy)
Audiobook available, read by Liyah Summers
The House of Berethnet has ruled Inys for a thousand years. Still unwed, Queen Sabran the Ninth must conceive a daughter to protect her realm from destruction --- but assassins are getting closer to her door. Ead Duryan is an outsider at court. Though she has risen to the position of lady-in-waiting, she is loyal to a hidden society of mages. Ead keeps a watchful eye on Sabran, secretly protecting her with forbidden magic. Across the dark sea, Tané has trained all her life to be a dragonrider, but is forced to make a choice that could see her life unravel. Meanwhile, the divided East and West refuse to parley, and forces of chaos are rising from their sleep. Reviewed by Amy Gwiazdowski.
THE SECRETARY by Renée Knight (Psychological Thriller)
Audiobook available, read by Victoria Hamilton
From her first day as Personal Assistant to the celebrated Mina Appleton, Christine Butcher understands what is expected of her. For 20 years, she has been a most devoted servant, a silent witness to everything in Mina’s life. Day after day, year after year, Christine has been there, invisible --- watching, listening, absorbing all the secrets floating around her. Keeping them safe. Christine is trusted. But those years of loyalty and discretion come with a high price. And eventually Christine will pay. But it would be a mistake to underestimate such a steadfast woman as Christine. Because as everyone is about to discover, there’s a dangerous line between obedience and obsession. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
TOMORROW THERE WILL BE SUN by Dana Reinhardt (Fiction)
Audiobook available, read by Kirsten Potter
Two families arrive in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, for a once-in-a-lifetime vacation. Jenna has organized the trip to celebrate her husband's 50th birthday. However, as the families settle into their vacation routines, their best friends suddenly seem like annoying strangers, and even Jenna's reliable husband, Peter, is sharing clandestine phone calls with someone. But who? Jenna's teenage daughter, Clem, is spending an awful lot of time with Malcolm, whose questionable rep got him expelled from school. Jenna's dream of the ultimate celebration begins to crack and eventually crumbles completely, leaving her wondering whom she can trust, and whether her privileged life is about to be changed forever. Reviewed by Megan Elliott.
TRIGGER by David Swinson (Mystery)
Audiobook available, read by Christopher Ryan Grant
Ostracized by his family after a botched case that led to the death of his baby cousin, Jeffrey, Frank Marr was on a collision course with rock bottom. Now clean and clinging hard to sobriety, Frank passes the time --- and tests himself --- by robbing the houses of local dealers, taking their cash and flushing their drugs down the toilet. When an old friend from his police days needs Frank's help to prove he didn't shoot an unarmed civilian, Frank is drawn back into the world of dirty cops and suspicious drug busts, running in the same circles that enabled his addiction those years ago. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
UNTO US A SON IS GIVEN: A Commissario Guido Brunetti Mystery by Donna Leon (Mystery)
Audiobook available, read by David Colacci
Count Orazio Falier urges his son-in-law, Guido Brunetti, to investigate --- and preferably intervene in --- the seemingly innocent plan of the Count’s best friend, the elderly Gonzalo Rodríguez de Tejada, to adopt a much younger man as his son. Under Italian inheritance laws, this man would then be heir to Gonzalo’s entire fortune, a prospect Gonzalo’s friends find appalling. Gonzalo unexpectedly drops dead on the street, and one of his friends who just arrived in Venice for the memorial service is strangled in her hotel room. Now with an urgent case to solve, Brunetti reluctantly untangles the long-hidden mystery in Gonzalo’s life that ultimately led to murder --- a resolution that brings him way more pain than satisfaction. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
VACUUM IN THE DARK by Jen Beagin (Fiction/Humor)
Audiobook available, read by Jayme Mattler
Mona is 26 and cleans houses for a living in Taos, New Mexico. Her boyfriend, Dark, happens to be married to one of her clients. But Dark and his wife aren’t the only complicated clients on Mona’s roster. There’s also the Hungarian artist couple who --- with her addiction to painkillers and his lingering stares --- reminds Mona of troubling aspects of her childhood, and some of the underlying reasons her life had to be restarted in the first place. As she tries to get over the heartache of her affair and the older pains of her youth, Mona winds up on an eccentric, moving journey of self-discovery that takes her back to her beginnings where she attempts to unlock the key to having a sense of home in the future. Reviewed by Sarah Rachel Egelman.
THE WALL by John Lanchester (Dystopian Fiction)
Audiobook available, read by Will Poulter
Ravaged by the Change, an island nation in a time very much like our own has built the Wall --- an enormous concrete barrier around its entire coastline. Joseph Kavanagh, a new Defender, has one task: to protect his section of the Wall from the Others, the desperate souls who are trapped amid the rising seas outside and are a constant threat. Failure will result in death or a fate perhaps worse: being put to sea and made an Other himself. Beset by cold, loneliness and fear, Kavanagh tries to fulfill his duties to his demanding Captain and Sergeant, even as he grows closer to his fellow Defenders. A dark part of him wonders if it would be interesting if something did happen, if they came, if he had to fight for his life. Reviewed by Norah Piehl.
WOLF PACK: A Joe Pickett Novel by C. J. Box (Mystery/Thriller)
Audiobook available, read by David Chandler
Joe Pickett has come to learn that a drone is killing wildlife --- and it belongs to a mysterious and wealthy man whose son is dating Joe's own daughter, Lucy. When Joe tries to lay down the rules for the drone operator, he's asked by the FBI and the DOJ to stand down, which only makes him more suspicious. Meanwhile, bodies are piling up in and around Joe's district in shocking numbers. He begins to fear that a pack of four vicious killers working on behalf of the Sinaloa cartel known as the Wolf Pack has arrived. Their target seems to be the mystery man and everyone --- including Joe, Nate and others --- who is associated with him. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.