July 30, 2013

July 30th

DEATH ANGEL by Linda Fairstein
DEATH ANGEL takes readers into the storied history of New York’s Central Park with Assistant DA Alex Cooper and Detective Mike Chapman as they race to track down a serial killer before yet another young woman is found dead. Is the body discovered in the Ramble the first victim of a deranged psychopath, or are other missing women in years past whose remains have never been found connected to this savage attack?
Dutton Adult * 9780525953876

THE HIGHWAY by C. J. Box
Two sisters set out across a remote stretch of Montana road, and it is the last time anyone hears from them again. Cody Hoyt, who has just lost his job as police investigator, begins the drive south to the girls’ last known location. Meanwhile, his former rookie partner, Cassie Dewell, discovers that Gracie and Danielle Sullivan aren’t the first girls who have disappeared in this area. This majestic landscape is the hunting ground for a killer whose viciousness is outmatched only by his intelligence.
Minotaur Books * 9780312583200

THE HUSBAND’S SECRET by Liane Moriarty
Imagine that your husband wrote you a letter, to be opened after his death. Imagine, too, that the letter contains his deepest, darkest secret --- something with the potential to destroy not just the life you built together, but the lives of others as well. Imagine, then, that you stumble across that letter while your husband is still very much alive…
Amy Einhorn Books/Putnam * 9780399159343

SEA CREATURES by Susanna Daniel
As Georgia returns to her hometown of Miami with her toddler son and husband, she is hoping for a fresh start. They have left Illinois trailing scandal and disappointment in their wake. When Georgia takes a job as an errand runner for an artist, she's surprised to find that her life changes dramatically and for the better. But the family's challenges return worse than before, and Georgia must face the fact that her choices have put her son in grave danger.
Harper * 9780062219602


August 1st

THE LAST ALIBI by David Ellis
Two women have recently been murdered, seemingly by the same killer, and James Drinker thinks he will be the police’s main suspect. He is the only link between the victims and has no alibi for the night of either murder, so he hires Jason Kolarich for his defense. As Kolarich begins to probe his client’s life and story more closely, it quickly becomes clear that nothing about James Drinker is what it seems…and that the target of the frame-up isn’t Drinker, but Kolarich.
Putnam Adult * 9780399158803

LOOKING FOR PALESTINE: Growing Up Confused in an Arab-American Family by Najla Said
Najla Said grew up in New York City, confused and conflicted about her cultural background and identity. She may have been born a Palestinian Lebanese American, but in Said’s mind she grew up first as a WASP, then as a teenage Jew, essentially denying her true roots. As she grew older, it became impossible for Said to continue to pick and choose her identity, forcing her to see herself and her passions more clearly.
Riverhead Hardcover * 9781594487088

THE SOUND OF THINGS FALLING by Juan Gabriel Vásquez
An article transports Antonio Yammara back to when the war between Colombian drug kingpin Pablo Escobar’s Medellín cartel and government forces played out violently in Colombia’s streets and in the skies above. Troubled by disturbing memories of a friend's murder, Antonio begins to discover the many ways in which his own life and his friend’s family have been shaped by his country’s recent violent past.
Riverhead Hardcover * 9781594487484

THE THINKING WOMAN’S GUIDE TO REAL MAGIC by Emily Croy Barker
Nora Fischer’s dissertation is stalled, and her boyfriend is about to marry another woman. During a miserable weekend at a friend’s wedding, Nora wanders off and walks through a portal into a different world where she is transformed from a drab grad student into a stunning beauty. But her new fantasy world eventually turns darker, and when a passage home finally opens, Nora must weigh her “real life” against the dangerous power of love and magic.
Pamela Dorman Books * 9780670023660

July 30th

ALEX CROSS, RUN by James Patterson
Top plastic surgeon Elijah Creem is renowned for his skills in the operating room, as well as for his wild "industry parties." After Detective Alex Cross busts one of Creem's lavish soirees, three beautiful women are brutally murdered. While Alex is feeling the pressure to solve these cases, someone else is investigating him --- someone so obsessed and so twisted that they'll do anything to get the vengeance they require.
Grand Central Publishing * 9781455521500

CALCULATED IN DEATH by J. D. Robb
On Manhattan's Upper East Side, a woman named Marta lies dead at the bottom of the stairs, stripped of all her valuables. Most cops might call it a mugging gone wrong, but Lieutenant Eve Dallas knows better. When someone steals the files out of Marta's office, Eve must immerse herself in her billionaire husband Roarke's world of big business to figure out who's cruel and callous enough to hire a hit on an innocent woman.
Berkley * 9780425250730

A CRIMINAL DEFENSE: A Harlan Donnally Novel by Steven Gore
Paperback Original
Is criminal defense attorney Mark Hamlin the victim of murder --- or of a dangerous sexual encounter gone wrong? Former detective Harlan Donnally had no desire to immerse himself in the deceit that was Hamlin's career...nor entangle himself in the corrupted loyalties that turned the dead lawyer's associates into both co-conspirators and suspects. But the presiding judge demanded otherwise --- and that might cost Donnally his life.
Harper * 9780062025074

DEAR LIFE: Stories by Alice Munro
Alice Munro’s peerless ability to give us the essence of a life in often brief but always spacious and timeless stories is once again apparent everywhere in her new collection. In story after story, she illumines the moment a life is forever altered by a chance encounter or an action not taken, or by a simple twist of fate that turns a person out of his or her accustomed path and into a new way of being or thinking.
Vintage * 9780307743725

DEATH IN THE FLOATING CITY: A Lady Emily Mystery by Tasha Alexander
Emily's childhood nemesis, Emma Callum, turns to Emily when her father-in-law is murdered and her husband vanishes. Emily soon realizes that to solve the present-day crime, she must first unravel a centuries-old puzzle. But the past does not give up its secrets easily, especially when these revelations might threaten the interests of some very powerful people.
Minotaur Books * 9781250029768

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.
Vintage * 9780307949769

GHOSTMAN by Roger Hobbs
When a casino robbery in Atlantic City goes horribly awry, the man who orchestrated it is obliged to call in a favor from someone who’s occasionally called Jack. While it’s doubtful that anyone knows his true identity, he does entirely as he pleases and is almost impossible to get in touch with. But within hours, a private jet is flying him to New Jersey and right into a spectacular mess. He has only 48 hours until the twice-stolen cash literally explodes.
Vintage * 9780307950499

THE GOOD DREAM by Donna VanLiere
Ever since Ivorie Walker’s parents passed away, she has hidden her loneliness behind a fierce independence and good humor. When a feral, dirty-faced boy steals from her vegetable garden, Ivorie steps out of her comfort zone to uncover answers about him and unleashes a firestorm in the town --- a place where secrets stay secret.
St. Martin's Griffin * 9781250031877

THE INN AT ROSE HARBOR by Debbie Macomber
Jo Marie Rose arrives in the Pacific Northwest town of Cedar Cove seeking peace and a fresh start after the death of her husband. She purchases a local bed-and-breakfast, yet the inn holds more surprises than Jo Marie can imagine. Joshua Weaver, who has come to care for his ailing stepfather, and Abby Kincaid, who is back in town for her brother's wedding, are among the cast of characters who find love, forgiveness and renewal behind the doors of the Rose Harbor Inn.
Ballantine Books * 9780345535252

ME BEFORE YOU by Jojo Moyes
Louisa Clark takes a badly needed job working for ex–Master of the Universe Will Traynor, who is wheelchair-bound after an accident. Will has always lived a huge life and is pretty sure he cannot live the way he is. Louisa refuses to treat him with kid gloves, and soon his happiness means more to her than she expected. When she learns that Will has shocking plans of his own, she sets out to show him that life is still worth living.
Penguin Books * 9780143124542

READY TO DIE: A Selena Alvarez/Regan Pescoli Novel by Lisa Jackson
Paperback Original
Nothing can prepare you to face a killer. Six faces, all guilty --- and detectives Regan Pescoli and Selena Alvarez are at the top of his list. One by one, he'll stalk them, then he'll squeeze the trigger, savoring the way each lifeless body crumples to the reddening snow. One down already. And then there were five. When hunter meets prey, both must be willing to kill --- and ready to die.
Zebra * 9781420118513

THE SURVIVOR by Gregg Hurwitz
Nate Overbay --- a divorced former solider suffering from PTSD and slowly dying from ALS --- is about to commit suicide when a crew of robbers bursts into a bank. With nothing to lose, Nate confronts the robbers, taking them out one-by-one. The last man standing leaves Nate with a cryptic warning. Soon he is kidnapped by the mastermind of the failed heist and is given an ultimatum that could lead to the murder of his ex-wife and teenage daughter.
St. Martin's Paperbacks * 9781250029430

THE SWEETEST HALLELUJAH by Elaine Hussey
Paperback Original
Betty Jewel Hughes was once the hottest black jazz singer in Memphis. But when she finds herself pregnant and alone, she gives up her dream of being a star to raise her beautiful daughter, Billie, in Shakerag, Mississippi. Now, 10 years later, in 1955, Betty Jewel is dying of cancer and looking for someone to care for Billie when she's gone. With no one she can count on, Betty Jewel does the unthinkable: she takes out a want ad seeking a loving mother for her daughter.
Harlequin MIRA * 9780778315193

THY NEIGHBOR by Norah Vincent
Obsessed with understanding the circumstances surrounding his parents’ deaths and deranged by his relentless sorrow, Nick Walsh begins a campaign of spying on his neighbors via hidden cameras and microphones he has covertly installed in their houses. As he observes all the things that his neighbors do to themselves and to one another, and as he learns that he himself is being stalked, he begins to slowly unravel the shocking truth about how and why his parents died.
Penguin Books * 9780143123668

THE TOMBS: A Fargo Adventure by Clive Cussler and Thomas Perry
Husband-and-wife Sam and Remi Fargo and their friend hunt for Attila the Hun's tomb, which supposedly contained a vast amount of treasure. They follow a trail that leads them across the eastern hemisphere and pits them against others who are hungry for Attila's treasure.
Berkley * 9780425265079

TWO GRAVES by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
For 12 years, he believed she died in an accident. Then, he was told she’d been murdered. Now, FBI Special Agent Aloysius Pendergast discovers that his beloved wife Helen is alive. But their reunion is cut short when Helen is brazenly abducted before his eyes. Pendergast is forced to embark on a furious cross-country chase to rescue her --- but what he finds is the origin of a nefarious international plot that he is unwittingly at the heart of.
Grand Central Publishing * 9780446555005


August 1st

52 THINGS HUSBANDS NEED FROM THEIR WIVES: What Wives Can Do to Build a Stronger Marriage by Jay Payleitner
Paperback Original
"I don't always understand what he needs or wants from me." Most wives want a heart-to-heart connection with their husbands. But men often communicate their needs in ways that seem strange to women. How to bridge the gap? Straight from a veteran dad and husband come these insightful, unexpected and occasionally offbeat ideas.
Harvest House Publishers * 9780736954853

THE AMISH SEAMSTRESS: The Women of Lancaster County, Book 4 by Mindy Starns Clark and Leslie Gould
Paperback Original
Izzy Mueller is an exceptional listener, a gifted caregiver and a talented seamstress. As the young woman sits with her elderly patients, she quietly sews as they share their stories. She's content with her life until circumstances reconnect her with someone she once loved. Zed Bayer, a Mennonite, is not what her family is hoping for in a spouse, and his creative interest in filmmaking is definitely at odds with her Amish upbringing.
Harvest House Publishers * 9780736926263

BENEATH THE DOVER SKY: The Danforths of Lancashire, Book 2 by Murray Pura
Paperback Original
Although the ravages of World War I are in the past, new threats loom as a man named Adolf Hitler publishes a book called Mein Kampf. Is he a danger to Europe? And what of Lord Preston's growing friendship with an up-and-coming political leader named Winston Churchill? On the home front, one of the Danforth daughters, the recently widowed Catherine, sells her home in Belfast to spend more time at Dover --- where she finds herself annoyed at the impertinent German theologian her father has befriended.
Harvest House Publishers * 9780736952880

INTO THE WHIRLWIND by Elizabeth Camden
Paperback Original
As owner of the 57th Illinois Watch Company, Mollie Knox's future looks bright until the night the legendary Great Chicago Fire destroys her beloved city. Zack Kazmarek is an influential attorney and a force to be reckoned with among the city's most powerful citizens. He's accustomed to getting exactly what he wants --- until he meets Mollie Knox, the beguiling businesswoman just beyond his reach.
Bethany House Publishers * 9780764210242

THE LETTERS: The Inn at Eagle Hill, Book 1 by Suzanne Woods Fisher
Paperback Original
When widow Rose Schrock turns her Amish farmhouse into a bed and breakfast, she expects there might be problems. The reaction of her cantankerous mother-in-law for one. Disapproval from the church for another. But what she doesn’t expect is that the guests at the Inn at Eagle Hill will spill their problems into her life and into her heart. She also never expects the kind of help and support she gets from Galen King, the quiet and rugged horse trainer next door.
Revell * 9780800720933

MILLIE’S TREASURE: The Secret Lives of Will Tucker, Book 2 by Kathleen Y’Barbo
Paperback Original
Bookish heiress Millie Jean Cope is as clever as she is beautiful. Unfortunately, though adept at solving puzzles and cryptograms, she doesn't realize that her new fiancé isn't who he claims to be, but instead is a charming scoundrel. The infamous Will Tucker is presenting himself as a British gentleman, Sir William Trueck, though in reality he is a crafty criminal looking for a hidden map to a secret treasure.
Harvest House Publishers * 9780736952132

ON DISTANT SHORES: Wings of the Nightingale, Book 2 by Sarah Sundin
Paperback Original
Lt. Georgiana Taylor has everything she could want. But in July 1943, her cozy life gets more complicated when she meets pharmacist Sgt. John Hutchinson. Hutch resents the lack of respect he gets as a noncommissioned serviceman and hates how the war keeps him from his fiancée. While Georgie and Hutch share a love of the starry night skies over Sicily, their lives back home are falling apart. Can they weather the hurt and betrayal? Or will the pressures of war destroy the fragile connection they've made?
Revell * 9780800720827

RULES OF MURDER: A Drew Farthering Mystery by Julianna Deering
Paperback Original
Drew Farthering loves a good mystery. So when a body is discovered on his country estate, he decides to do his own investigation. Trying hard to remain one step ahead of the killer --- and to impress his American guest, the beautiful and whip-smart Madeline Parker --- Drew must decide how far to take this dangerous game.
Bethany House Publishers * 9780764210952

August 5th

BRIDE OF NEW FRANCE by Suzanne Desrochers
Laure Beausejour dreams of becoming a seamstress and catching the eye of a nobleman. But after complaining about her living conditions in Paris, she is sent to Canada to marry a French farmer there. When her ill-matched husband leaves her alone in their derelict hut for the winter, she must rely on her wits and her clandestine relationship with an Iroquois man for survival.
W. W. Norton & Company * 9780393345858

YOU ARE THE LOVE OF MY LIFE by Susan Richards Shreve
It is 1973, and Lucy Painter is a children's book illustrator and a single mother of two. She leaves New York and the married father of her children to live in a tightly knit Washington neighborhood in the house where she grew up and where she discovered her father’s suicide. Lucy hopes for a fresh start, but her life is full of secrets. As the new neighbors enter their lives, her family’s safety and stability become threatened.
W. W. Norton & Company * 9780393345940


August 6th

THE BARTENDER'S TALE by Ivan Doig
Tom Harry and his son, Rusty, make an odd kind of family, with Tom’s venerable bar their true home, but they manage just fine. That is, until the summer of 1960, when Rusty turns 12. Change arrives with gale force, in the person of Proxy, a taxi dancer Tom previously knew, and her beatnik daughter, Francine. Is Francine, as Proxy claims, the unsuspected legacy of her and Tom’s past?
Riverhead Trade * 9781594631481

BRAIN ON FIRE: My Month of Madness by Susannah Cahalan
BRAIN ON FIRE is the powerful account of Susannah Cahalan’s struggle to recapture her identity and to rediscover herself among the fragments left behind. Using all her considerable journalistic skills --- and building from hospital records and surveillance video, interviews with family and friends, and excerpts from the deeply moving journal her father kept during her illness --- she pieces together the story of a “lost month” of her life.
Simon & Schuster * 9781451621389

BURIED ON AVENUE B by Peter de Jonge
In hopes of finding the body of a lowlife who fell off the grid 17 years ago, the NYPD instead finds the skeleton of a 10-year-old boy, buried ceremoniously with a comic book, a CD, some pot and booze. NYPD Detective Darlene O’Hara is tasked with a case that takes her from New York’s Lower East Side to the more sordid corners of Sarasota, Florida, where she must solve the murder of this child.
Harper Paperbacks * 9780062267009

BURNING SKY: A Novel of the American Frontier by Lori Benton
Paperback Original
Abducted by Mohawk Indians at 14 and renamed Burning Sky, Willa Obenchain is driven to return to her family’s New York frontier homestead after many years building a life with the People. But she quickly finds that much has changed in her 12-year absence. When her Mohawk brother arrives and questions her place in the white world, the cultural divide blurs Willa’s vision. Can she follow Tames-His-Horse back to the People now that she is no longer Burning Sky?
WaterBrook Press * 9780307731470

THE BUTTERFLY SISTER by Amy Gail Hansen
Paperback Original
Ruby Rousseau is haunted by the memories of her senior year in college, a time marred by an affair with her English professor and a deep depression that caused her to question her sanity. When she receives a mysterious suitcase, she tries to return it to its rightful owner, only to learn that her dorm-mate, Beth, disappeared two days earlier. With clues found in the luggage, including a tattered copy of Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One's Own, which Ruby believes instigated her madness, she sets out to uncover the truth.
William Morrow Paperbacks * 9780062234629

THE CALLER: An Inspector Sejer Mystery by Karin Fossum
Inspector Sejer is called to the hospital to try to figure out who was responsible for carrying out a sinister prank on a young couple. Later that night, he hears a knock at the door and receives a note that has him worried about what is to come. The postcard in question bears a short message: Hell begins now.
Mariner Books * 9780544002180

A DEATH IN THE SMALL HOURS by Charles Finch
Charles Lenox is at the pinnacle of his political career and is a delighted new father. He plans a trip to his uncle's estate, Somerset, in the expectation of a few calm weeks to write an important speech. However, the quiet village of Plumley greets him with a series of strange vandalisms upon the local shops. Only when a far more serious crime is committed does he begin to understand the great stakes of those events, and the complex and sinister mind that is wreaking fear and suspicion in Plumley.
Minotaur Books * 9781250031495

THE DEATH RELIC by Chris Kuzneski
One of the few legacies left from the Mayan and Aztec civilizations is the legend of the Death Relic --- an artifact with incredible power shrouded in mystery. When archaeologist Maria Pelati's research team goes missing while working in the Yucatan Peninsula, she embarks on a dangerous journey with Jonathon Payne and David Jones to find the missing team. They soon realize that Maria's research could be the key to solving the mystery of the Death Relic.
Berkley * 9780425264676

GOLIATH by Susan Woodring
When Percy Harding, Goliath’s most important citizen, is found dead by the railroad tracks outside town one perfect autumn afternoon, no one can quite believe it’s really happened. Only Rosamond Rogers, Percy’s secretary, may have had a glimpse of how and why this great man has fallen.
St. Martin's Griffin * 9781250034830

GONE by Randy Wayne White
Hannah Smith makes her living as a fishing guide, but her friends, neighbors and clients also know her as an uncommonly resourceful woman with a keen sense of justice. Her methods can be unorthodox, though, and those on the receiving end of them often wind up very unhappy --- and sometimes very violent. When a girl goes missing, and Hannah is asked to find her, that is exactly what happens.
Berkley * 9780425261293

THE HISTORY OF US by Leah Stewart
Eloise Hempel’s life is turned upside down when she must raise her sister's three children after her sister's untimely death. Nearly two decades after returning to Cincinnati and moving back into her mother's house, she is ready to resume her own life. However, when her mother creates a competition for which of the now-grown kids gets the house, their makeshift family starts to fall apart.
Touchstone * 9781451672633

HOPELIFTER: Creative Ways to Spread Hope When Life Hurts by Kathe Wunnenberg
Paperback Original
How often do women see a friend in distress or crisis, but feel helpless to really make a difference? HOPELIFTER takes the mystery out of how to be the hands and feet of Jesus to anyone in need of hope, comfort and care. Kathe Wunnenberg, whose hope-lifting ministry has impacted the lives of thousands, demonstrates simple, practical ways that acts of creative compassion can transform lives.
Zondervan * 9780310320159

LOVE & LAMENT by John Milliken Thompson
Paperback Original
Mary Bet, the youngest of nine children, was born the same year that the first railroad arrived in their county. As she matures, against the backdrop of Reconstruction and rapid industrialization, she must learn to deal with the deaths of her mother and siblings, a deaf and damaged older brother, and her father’s growing insanity and rejection of God.
Other Press * 9781590515877

MEMORY’S DOOR: A Well Spring Novel by James L. Rubart
Paperback Original
The four members of Warriors Riding have learned to wage war in the supernatural, to send their spirits inside people’s souls, to battle demonic forces, and to bring deep healing to those around them. But now the Wolf is hunting them, feeding on his supernatural hate of all they stand for. And he won’t stop until he brings utter destruction to their bodies...and their souls.
Thomas Nelson * 9781401686079

THE MORNING STAR by Andre Schwarz-Bart
Acclaimed French novelist and Holocaust survivor Andre Schwarz-Bart’s last novel, discovered after his death, begins in the year 3000, in the aftermath of nuclear war. Combining fact, myth, folktale and fantasy, the plot spans several thousand years, weaving the heroic tale of the Jewish people from Abraham, to the Holocaust and its extermination camps, and into the future.
Overlook TP * 9781590207345

NECESSARY ERRORS by Caleb Crain
Paperback Original
Jacob Putnam has arrived a year too late to witness Czechoslovakia’s revolution, but he still hopes to find its spirit. He discovers a country at a crossroads between communism and capitalism, and a picturesque city overflowing with a vibrant, searching sense of possibility. As the men and women Jacob meets begin to fall in love with one another, no one turns out to be quite the same as the idea Jacob has of them --- including Jacob himself.
Penguin Books * 9780143122418

THE PANTHER by Nelson DeMille
Anti-Terrorist Task Force agent John Corey and his wife, FBI agent Kate Mayfield, have been posted in one of the most dangerous places in the Middle East to track down a high-ranking Al Qaeda operative called The Panther. John and Kate don't know the entirety of their mission, but they know there is more to it than meets the eye.
Grand Central Publishing * 9780446699617

THE PASSION OF THE PURPLE PLUMERIA: A Pink Carnation Novel by Lauren Willig
Paperback Original
Upon his return home from India, Colonel William Reid finds that one of his daughters has vanished, along with a classmate. Spy Gwendolyn Meadows also returns to England when the Pink Carnation’s little sister goes missing. Thrown together by circumstance, Gwen and William must cooperate to track down the young ladies before others with nefarious intent get their hands on them.
NAL Trade * 9780451414724

THE ST. ZITA SOCIETY by Ruth Rendell
Life for the residents and servants of Hexam Place appears placid and orderly on the outside: drivers take their employers to and from work, dogs are walked, flowers are planted in gardens, and Christmas candles lit uniformly in windows. But beneath this tranquil veneer, the upstairs-downstairs relationships are set to combust.
Scribner * 9781451666694

THE STOCKHOLM OCTAVO by Karen Engelmann
One man’s fortune holds the key to a nation’s fate in Karen Engelmann’s debut novel set in 18th-century Sweden. THE STOCKHOLM OCTAVO transports readers to a colorful Scandinavian world of intrigue and magic in a dazzling golden age of high art, music and opulent fashion.
Ecco * 9780061995354

SUMMERSET ABBEY: SPRING AWAKENING by T. J. Brown
Paperback Original
The laughter of summer lawn parties fades for the men and women of Summerset Abbey, as the rumble of cannon fire sweeps across Europe. Rowena Buxton meets a man from her past whose return throws her comfortable future with Sebastian into jeopardy. Victoria Buxton throws caution to the wind and joins the war effort as a volunteer nurse. And Prudence Tate goes to desperate lengths to protect her new husband after he enlists.
Gallery Books * 9781451699067

A THOUSAND PARDONS by Jonathan Dee
Once a privileged and loving couple, the Armsteads have now reached a breaking point --- and everything they have built together unravels, swiftly and spectacularly. As she is confronted with the biggest case of her career, the fallout from her marriage, and her daughter’s increasingly distant behavior, Helen must face the limits of accountability and her own capacity for forgiveness.
Random House Trade Paperbacks * 9780812983388

VISITING TOM: A Man, a Highway, and the Road to Roughneck Grace by Michael Perry
Tom Hartwig makes gag shovel handles, parts for quarter-million-dollar farm equipment, and the occasional batch of potentially "extralegal" explosives. As he approaches his 60th wedding anniversary, Tom has an endless reservoir of stories dating back to days of his prize Model A, and an anti-authoritarian streak refreshed daily by the four-lane interstate that was shoved through his front yard in 1965 and now dumps over eight million vehicles past his kitchen window every year.
Harper Perennial * 9780061894466