|
In this newsletter, you will find books releasing the weeks of October 1st and October 8th that we think will be of interest to Bookreporter.com readers, along with Bonus News, where we call out a contest, feature or review that we want to let you know about so you have it on your radar.
This week, we are calling attention to our Sounding Off on Audio contest for October. This month's prizes are the audio versions of THE NEXT PERSON YOU MEET IN HEAVEN written and read by Mitch Albom and UNSHELTERED written and read by Barbara Kingsolver. Submit your comments about the audiobooks you've listened to by Thursday, November 1st at noon ET, and you'll be in the running to win both these audio titles.
We also are spotlighting A SPARK OF LIGHT, a powerful and provocative new novel from Jodi Picoult about ordinary lives that intersect during a heart-stopping crisis. Don't miss our review of the book, which is now in stores, in the October 5th Bookreporter.com Weekly Update newsletter.
Finally, we've updated our Books on Screen feature for this month. October's roundup includes the feature films The Hate U Give, Beautiful Boy and Can You Ever Forgive Me?; the series premiere of "I Feel Bad" on NBC, along with the season two finales of EPIX's "Get Shorty" and Audience Network's "Mr. Mercedes"; and the DVD releases of Leave No Trace, Down a Dark Hall and The Catcher Was a Spy.
For those of you who are doing online shopping, if you use the store links below, Bookreporter.com gets a small affiliate fee on your purchases. We would appreciate your considering this.
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indiebound
Now Available: A SPARK OF LIGHT by Jodi Picoult
A SPARK OF LIGHT by Jodi Picoult (Fiction)
The #1 New York Times bestselling author of SMALL GREAT THINGS returns with a powerful and provocative new novel about ordinary lives that intersect during a heart-stopping crisis.
The warm fall day starts like any other at the Center --- a women’s reproductive health services clinic --- its staff offering care to anyone who passes through its doors. Then, in late morning, a desperate and distraught gunman bursts in and opens fire, taking all inside hostage.
After rushing to the scene, Hugh McElroy, a police hostage negotiator, sets up a perimeter and begins making a plan to communicate with the gunman. As his phone vibrates with incoming text messages, he glances at it and, to his horror, finds out that his 15-year-old daughter, Wren, is inside the clinic.
Jodi Picoult --- one of the most fearless writers of our time --- tackles a complicated issue in this gripping and nuanced novel. How do we balance the rights of pregnant women with the rights of the unborn they carry? What does it mean to be a good parent? A SPARK OF LIGHT will inspire debate, conversation...and, hopefully, understanding.
Click here to read more about the book.
This Week's Bonus News:
October's Sounding Off on Audio Contest
Tell us about the audiobooks you’ve finished listening to with your comments and a rating of 1 to 5 stars for both the performance and the content. During the contest period from October 1st to November 1st at noon ET, two lucky readers each will be randomly chosen to win the audio versions of THE NEXT PERSON YOU MEET IN HEAVEN written and read by Mitch Albom and UNSHELTERED written and read by Barbara Kingsolver.
To make sure other readers will be able to find the audiobook, please include the full title and correct author names (your entry must include these to be eligible to win). For complete rules and guidelines, click here.
- To see reader comments from previous contest periods, click here.
Click here to enter the contest.
On Sale the Week of October 1st in Hardcover
October 1st
THE RAGGED EDGE OF NIGHT by Olivia Hawker (Historical Fiction)
Germany, 1942. Franciscan friar Anton Starzmann is stripped of his place in the world when his school is seized by the Nazis. He relocates to a small German hamlet to wed Elisabeth Herter, a widow who seeks a marriage to a man who can help raise her three children. As Anton struggles to adapt to the roles of husband and father, he learns of the Red Orchestra, an underground network of resisters plotting to assassinate Hitler. Despite Elisabeth’s reservations, Anton joins this army of shadows. But when the SS discovers his schemes, Anton will embark on a final act of defiance that may cost him his life --- even if it means saying goodbye to the family he has come to love more than he ever believed possible.
Lake Union Publishing | 9781503900905
WHAT HAVE YOU DONE by Matthew Farrell (Mystery/Thriller)
When a mutilated body is found hanging in a seedy motel, forensics specialist Liam Dwyer assumes the crime scene will be business as usual. Instead, the victim turns out to be a woman he’d had an affair with before breaking it off to save his marriage. But there’s a bigger problem: Liam has no memory of where he was or what he did on the night of the murder. Panicked, Liam turns to his brother, Sean, a homicide detective. From fingerprints to DNA, everything points to Liam, who must race against time and his department to uncover the truth --- even if that truth is his own guilt. Yet as he digs deeper, dark secrets come to light, and Liam begins to suspect the killer might actually be Sean.
Thomas & Mercer | 9781503902404
October 2nd
ALASKAN HOLIDAY by Debbie Macomber (Romance)
Before beginning her dream job as sous chef in one of Seattle’s hottest new restaurants, Josie Avery takes a summer position cooking at a lakeside lodge in the remote Alaskan town of Ponder. Josie falls for the rustic charms of the local community --- in particular, famed master swordsmith Palmer Saxon, who would like nothing more than to make Josie his wife. But Josie can’t imagine abandoning her mother and sacrificing her career to stay in this isolated town --- not even for a man she’s quickly coming to love. Fate has other plans, though. Josie misses the last boat out of town before winter sets in, stranding her in Ponder and putting her dream job at risk. As the holidays approach, Josie and Palmer must grapple with the complications that arise when dreams confront reality.
Ballantine Books | 9780399181283
ALL YOU CAN EVER KNOW: A Memoir by Nicole Chung (Memoir)
Nicole Chung was born severely premature, placed for adoption by her Korean parents, and raised by a white family in a sheltered Oregon town. From childhood, she heard the story of her adoption as a comforting, prepackaged myth. She believed that her biological parents had made the ultimate sacrifice in the hope of giving her a better life, that forever feeling slightly out of place was her fate as a transracial adoptee. But as Nicole grew up --- facing prejudice her adoptive family couldn’t see, finding her identity as an Asian American and as a writer, becoming ever more curious about where she came from --- she wondered if the story she’d been told was the whole truth.
Catapult | 9781936787975
BECOMING MRS. LEWIS by Patti Callahan (Historical Fiction)
When poet and writer Joy Davidman began writing letters to C. S. Lewis --- known as Jack --- she was looking for spiritual answers, not love. Love, after all, wasn’t holding together her crumbling marriage. Everything about New Yorker Joy seemed ill-matched for an Oxford don and the beloved writer of Narnia, yet their minds bonded over their letters. Embarking on the adventure of her life, Joy traveled from America to England and back again, facing heartbreak and poverty, discovering friendship and faith, and --- against all odds --- finding a love that even the threat of death couldn’t destroy.
Thomas Nelson | 9780785224501
BLOOD COMMUNION: A Tale of Prince Lestat by Anne Rice (Paranormal Thriller/Fantasy)
Lestat, rebel outlaw, addresses the tribe of vampires, telling the mesmerizing story of the formation of the Blood Communion and how he became Prince of the vampire world, the true ruler of this vast realm, and how his vision for all the Children of the Universe to thrive as one came to be. The tale spills from Lestat's heart, as he speaks first of his new existence as reigning monarch --- and then of his fierce battle of wits and words with the mysterious Rhoshamandes, a demon spirit who refuses to live in harmony at the Court of Prince Lestat and threatens all that Lestat has dreamt of.
Knopf | 9781524732646
BOOK OF THE JUST: Book Three of the Bohemian Trilogy by Dana Chamblee Carpenter (Supernatural Thriller)
Hiding among a tribe of the Martu in the isolation of the Australian outback near the edges of Lake Disappointment, Mouse and her lover, Angelo, have seemingly evaded at least one of the predators hunting them. Carefully dropping bogus breadcrumbs across Europe, they misdirect the Novus Rishi, a ruthless cult that wants Mouse as the ultimate weapon in their battle against evil. But when unnerving dreams start to plague Angelo, and the ancient beings of the Martu’s Dreaming send prophetic warnings that include visions of Mouse at her father’s side, the two lovers realize it’s time to act. With nowhere left to run, Mouse and Angelo prepare for a last showdown with their enemies.
Pegasus Books | 9781681778587
CONSUMED by J.R. Ward (Romantic Suspense)
Firefighter Anne Ashburn was fearless and loved the thrill of fighting fires, pushing herself to be the best. But when one risky decision at a warehouse fire changes her life forever, she must reinvent not only her job, but her whole self. Now an arson investigator, Anne doesn't believe she will ever feel that same all-consuming passion for her job again --- until she encounters a string of suspicious fires setting her beloved city ablaze. Danny McGuire is the best fireman in the county, but is in the midst of a personal meltdown. He is taking risks like never before and seems to have a death wish, until he teams up with Anne to find the fire starter. But Danny may be more than a distraction, and as Anne narrows in on her target, the arsonist begins to target her.
Gallery Books | 9781501194900
THE DEAD RINGER: An Agatha Raisin Mystery by M. C. Beaton (Mystery)
Agatha Raisin convinces lawyer Julian Brody to hire her to investigate the mystery of Bishop Peter Salver-Hinkley’s ex-fiancée, who went missing years ago and whose body was never found. Meanwhile, the bodies just keep on piling up. The corpse of Larry Jensen, a local policeman, is discovered in the crypt. Millicent Dupin, one of a pair of bell-ringing identical twins, is murdered near the church of St. Ethelred. And Terry Fletcher, a journalist and (briefly) Agatha’s lover, is found dead in her sitting room. Agatha widens her investigation, and very soon her main suspect is the handsome Bishop himself. But could he really be behind this series of violent killings, or is it someone who wants to bring him --- and his reputation --- down?
Minotaur Books | 9781250157690
DEVIL'S DAY by Andrew Michael Hurley (Gothic Horror/Thriller)
Every autumn, John Pentecost returns to the farm where he grew up, to help gather the sheep down from the moors for the winter. Very little changes in the Endlands, but this year, his grandfather --- the Gaffer --- has died and John's new wife, Katherine, is accompanying him for the first time. Each year, the Gaffer would redraw the boundary lines of the village, with pen and paper but also through the remembrance of tales and timeless communal rituals, which keep the sheep safe from the Devil. But as the farmers of the Endlands bury the Gaffer and prepare to gather the sheep, they begin to wonder if they've let the Devil in after all.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt | 9781328489883
DRACUL by Dacre Stoker and J. D. Barker (Supernatural Thriller/Gothic Horror)
It is 1868, and a 21-year-old Bram Stoker waits in a desolate tower to face an indescribable evil. Armed only with crucifixes, holy water and a rifle, he prays to survive a single night. A sickly child, Bram spent his early days bedridden in his parents' Dublin home, tended to by his caretaker, a young woman named Ellen Crone. When a string of strange deaths occur in a nearby town, Bram and his sister Matilda detect a pattern of bizarre behavior by Ellen --- a mystery that deepens chillingly until Ellen vanishes suddenly from their lives. Years later, Matilda returns from studying in Paris to tell Bram the news that she has seen Ellen --- and that the nightmare they've thought long ended is only beginning.
G.P. Putnam's Sons | 9780735219342
A DREAM CALLED HOME: A Memoir by Reyna Grande (Memoir)
When Reyna Grande was nine years old, she walked across the US–Mexico border in search of a home, desperate to be reunited with her parents. What she found instead was an indifferent mother, an abusive, alcoholic father, and a school system that belittled her heritage. With so few resources at her disposal, Reyna finds refuge in words, and it is her love of reading and writing that propels her to rise above until she achieves the impossible and is accepted to the University of California, Santa Cruz. The actual experience of American college life is intimidating and unfamiliar for someone like Reyna, but she holds fast to her vision of becoming a writer, only to discover she knows nothing about what it takes to make a career out of a dream.
Atria Books | 9781501171420
THE DREAM DAUGHTER by Diane Chamberlain (Fiction)
When Carly Sears, a young woman widowed by the Vietnam War, receives the news that her unborn baby girl has a heart defect, she is devastated. It is 1970, and she is told that nothing can be done to help her child. But her brother-in-law, a physicist with a mysterious past, tells her that perhaps there is a way to save her baby. What he suggests is something that will shatter every preconceived notion that Carly has. Something that will require a kind of strength and courage she never knew existed. Something that will mean an unimaginable leap of faith on Carly's part. And all for the love of her unborn child.
St. Martin's Press | 9781250087300
AN EASY DEATH by Charlaine Harris (Dark Fantasy/Thriller)
Battered by a run across the border to Mexico, Lizbeth Rose takes a job offer from a pair of Russian wizards to be their local guide and gunnie. They’re searching through the small border towns near Mexico, trying to locate a low-level magic practitioner, Oleg Karkarov. The wizards believe Oleg is a direct descendant of Grigori Rasputin, and that Oleg’s blood can save the young tsar’s life. As the trio journey through an altered America, shattered into several countries by the assassination of Franklin Roosevelt and the Great Depression, they’re set on by enemies. It’s clear that a powerful force does not want them to succeed in their mission. Lizbeth Rose is a gunnie who has never failed a client, but her oath will test all of her skills and resolve to get them all out alive.
Saga Press | 9781481494922
GONE SO LONG by Andre Dubus III (Fiction)
Daniel Ahearn lives a quiet, solitary existence in a seaside New England town. Forty years ago, following a shocking act of impulsive violence on his part, his daughter, Susan, was ripped from his arms by police. Now in her 40s, Susan still suffers from the trauma of a night she doesn’t remember, as she struggles to feel settled, to love a man and create something that lasts. Lois, her maternal grandmother who raised her, tries to find peace in her antique shop in a quaint Florida town but cannot escape her own anger, bitterness and fear.
W. W. Norton & Company | 9780393244106
THE GREATEST LOVE STORY EVER TOLD: An Oral History by Megan Mullally and Nick Offerman (Memoir)
The year: 2000. The setting: Los Angeles. A gorgeous virtuoso of an actress agreed to star in a random play, and a basement-dwelling scenic carpenter said he would assay a supporting role in the selfsame pageant. At the first rehearsal, she surveyed her fellow cast members, determining if any of the men might qualify to provide her with a satisfying fling. Her gaze fell upon the carpenter, and like a bolt of lightning the thought struck her: no dice. Moving on. Yet, unbeknownst to our protagonists, Cupid had merely set down his bow and picked up a rocket launcher…that fired a love rocket (not a euphemism). The players were Megan Mullally and Nick Offerman, and the resulting romance, once ignited, was…epic. Beyond epic. It resulted in a coupling that has endured to this day.
Dutton | 9781101986677
THE KENNEDY DEBUTANTE by Kerri Maher (Historical Fiction)
Kathleen "Kick" Kennedy moves in rarified circles. Eager to escape the watchful eye of her strict mother, Rose, the antics of her older brothers, Jack and Joe, and the erratic behavior of her sister Rosemary, Kick is ready to strike out on her own and is soon swept off her feet by Billy Hartington, the future Duke of Devonshire. But their love is forbidden, as Kick's devout Catholic family and Billy's staunchly Protestant one would never approve their match. When war breaks like a tidal wave across her world, Billy is ripped from her arms as the Kennedys are forced to return to the States. Kick gets work as a journalist and joins the Red Cross to get back to England, where she will have to decide where her true loyalties lie --- with family or with love.
Berkley | 9780451492043
ON DESPERATE GROUND: The Marines at The Reservoir, the Korean War's Greatest Battle by Hampton Sides (History)
On October 15, 1950, General Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander of UN troops in Korea, convinced President Harry Truman that the Communist forces of Kim Il-sung would be utterly defeated by Thanksgiving. The Chinese, he said with near certainty, would not intervene in the war. As he was speaking, 300,000 Red Chinese soldiers began secretly crossing the Manchurian border. Led by some 20,000 men of the First Marine Division, the Americans moved deep into the snowy mountains of North Korea, toward the trap Mao had set for the vainglorious MacArthur along the frozen shores of the Chosin Reservoir. What followed was one of the most heroic --- and harrowing --- operations in American military history, and one of the classic battles of all time.
Doubleday | 9780385541152
ON SUNSET: A Memoir by Kathryn Harrison (Memoir)
Kathryn Harrison always understood that her family was beyond eccentric. She was largely raised by her grandparents in an outsized Tudor confection of a house on the periphery of Bel Air, which she thought of as "Sunset." Harry Jacobs had been a fur trapper in Alaska, a soldier in the trenches of the Great War, a traveling salesman in a Model T. Margaret Sassoon had lived a privileged life as a member of a Jewish merchant family in Shanghai, turning down offers of marriage from Russian princes exiled by the Revolution. Kathryn grew up in an almost mythical realm of their letters, artifacts and stories --- until declining finances forced them to sell the house on Sunset in 1971, and night fell fast. ON SUNSET seeks to recover that childhood, that place, those lives.
Doubleday | 9780385542678
REAGAN: An American Journey by Bob Spitz (Biography)
Bob Spitz's REAGAN is an absorbing, richly detailed, even revelatory chronicle of the full arc of Ronald Reagan's epic life --- giving full weight to the Hollywood years, his transition to politics and rocky but ultimately successful run as California governor, and, of course, his iconic presidency, filled with storm and stress but climaxing with his peace talks with the Soviet Union that would serve as his greatest legacy. It is filled with fresh assessments and shrewd judgments, and doesn't flinch from a full reckoning with the man's strengths and limitations.
Penguin Press | 9781594205316
A SPARK OF LIGHT by Jodi Picoult (Fiction)
The warm fall day starts like any other at the Center --- a women’s reproductive health services clinic --- its staff offering care to anyone who passes through its doors. Then, in late morning, a desperate and distraught gunman bursts in and opens fire, taking all inside hostage. After rushing to the scene, Hugh McElroy, a police hostage negotiator, sets up a perimeter and begins making a plan to communicate with the gunman. As his phone vibrates with incoming text messages, he glances at it and, to his horror, finds out that his 15-year-old daughter, Wren, is inside the clinic. But Wren is not alone. She will share the next and tensest few hours of her young life with a cast of unforgettable characters.
Ballantine Books | 9780345544988
THE STRANGER GAME by Peter Gadol (Psychological Thriller)
Rebecca’s on-again, off-again boyfriend, Ezra, has gone missing. The police suspect he has been playing the “stranger game,” a viral hit in which players start following others in real life, as they might otherwise do on social media. As the game spreads, however, the rules begin to change, and disappearances are reported across the country. Curious about this popular new obsession, and hoping that she might be able to track down Ezra, Rebecca tries the game for herself. She also meets Carey, who is willing to take the game further than she imagined possible. As her relationship with Carey and involvement in the game deepen, she begins to uncover an unsettling subculture that has infiltrated the world around her.
Hanover Square Press | 9781335943910
THERE WILL BE NO MIRACLES HERE: A Memoir by Casey Gerald (Memoir)
Casey Gerald's story begins at the end of the world: Dallas, New Year's Eve 1999, when he gathers with the congregation of his grandfather's black evangelical church to see which of them will be carried off. His beautiful, fragile mother disappears frequently and mysteriously; for a brief idyll, he and his sister live like Boxcar Children on her disability checks. When Casey --- following in the footsteps of his father, a gridiron legend --- is recruited to play football at Yale, he enters a world he's never dreamed of. But even as he attains the inner sanctums of power, Casey sees how the world crushes those who live at its margins. He sees how the elite perpetuate the salvation stories that keep others from rising. And he sees, most painfully, how his own ascension is part of the scheme.
Riverhead Books | 9780735214200
VALLEY FORGE by Bob Drury and Tom Clavin (History)
Eighteen months after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, some 12,000 members of America’s beleaguered Continental Army stagger into a small Pennsylvania encampment. The starving and half-naked force is reeling from a string of demoralizing defeats at the hands of King George III’s army. Their commander in chief, George Washington, is at the lowest ebb of his military career. Determined to keep the rebel cause alive through sheer force of will, Washington sets out to breathe new life into his military force. Against all odds, they manage to turn a bobtail army of citizen soldiers into a professional fighting force that will change the world forever. VALLEY FORGE is the story of how that metamorphosis occurred.
Simon & Schuster | 9781501152719
VIRGIL WANDER by Leif Enger (Fiction)
Midwestern movie house owner Virgil Wander is “cruising along at medium altitude” when his car flies off the road into icy Lake Superior. Virgil survives, but his language and memory are altered. Awakening in this new life, he begins to piece together his personal history and the lore of his broken town, with the help of a cast of affable and curious locals --- from Rune, a twinkling, pipe-smoking, kite-flying stranger investigating the mystery of his disappeared son; to Nadine, the reserved, enchanting wife of the vanished man, to Tom, a journalist and Virgil’s oldest friend; and various members of the Pea family who must confront tragedies of their own. Into this community returns a shimmering prodigal son who may hold the key to reviving their town.
Grove Press | 9780802128782
WAR OF THE WOLF by Bernard Cornwell (Historical Fiction)
While Uhtred of Bebbanburg might have regained his family’s fortress, it seems that a peaceful life is not to be --- as he is under threat from both an old enemy and a new foe. The old enemy comes from Wessex, where a dynastic struggle will determine who will be the next king. And the new foe is Sköll, a Norseman, whose ambition is to be King of Northumbria and who leads a frightening army of wolf-warriors, men who fight half-crazed in the belief that they are indeed wolves. Uhtred, believing he is cursed, must fend off one enemy while he tries to destroy the other. In this new chapter of the Saxon Tales series, Uhtred returns to fight once again for the destiny of England.
Harper | 9780062563170
ZERO SUM GAME by S. L. Huang (Science Fiction/Thriller)
Cas Russell is good at math. Scary good. The vector calculus blazing through her head lets her smash through armed men twice her size and dodge every bullet in a gunfight, and she'll take any job for the right price. As far as Cas knows, she’s the only person around with a superpower...until she discovers someone with a power even more dangerous than her own. Someone who can reach directly into people’s minds and twist their brains into Möbius strips. Someone intent on becoming the world’s puppet master. Cas should run, like she usually does, but for once she's involved. There’s only one problem: she doesn’t know which of her thoughts are her own anymore.
Tor Books | 9781250180254
On Sale the Week of October 1st in Paperback
October 1st
LET THESE BONES LIVE AGAIN: A Christopher Worthy and Father Fortis Mystery by David Carlson (Mystery)
Paperback Original
Allyson Worthy, daughter of the renowned homicide detective Christopher Worthy, has landed a dream internship with the Venice police. On her first day, she is assigned to assist with a bizarre case --- the apparent suicides of two wealthy Americans in the city. Linking the two persons are their similar cancer diagnoses and strange incisions on their bodies. The family of the second victim doubt the suicide verdict and hire Christopher Worthy to look into the death. After speaking at a conference in Rome, Father Nicholas Fortis is asked by the Vatican to look into the recent theft of relics, bones of saints, from Venetian churches. As clues fall into place, Allyson is unexpectedly put in danger as she unknowingly agrees to rendezvous with the killer.
Coffeetown Press | 9781603813938
October 2nd
THE ACCIDENTAL PRESIDENT: Harry S. Truman and the Four Months That Changed the World by A. J. Baime (History)
Chosen as FDR’s fourth term Vice President for his well-praised work ethic, good judgment and lack of enemies, Harry S. Truman was the prototypical ordinary man. That is, until he was shockingly thrust in over his head after FDR’s sudden death. During the climactic months of the Second World War, Truman had to play judge and jury, pulling America to the forefront of the global stage. THE ACCIDENTAL PRESIDENT escorts readers into the situation room with Truman during this tumultuous, history-making 120 days, when the stakes were high and the challenge even higher.
Mariner Books | 9781328505682
ALI: A Life by Jonathan Eig (Biography)
Muhammad Ali was one of the 20th century’s greatest radicals and most compelling figures. At his funeral in 2016, eulogists said Ali had transcended race and united the country, but they got it wrong. Race was the theme of Ali’s life. He insisted that America come to grips with a black man who wasn’t afraid to speak out or break the rules. He didn’t overcome racism. He called it out. Ali went from being one of the most despised men in the country to one of the most beloved. But until now, he has never been the subject of a complete, unauthorized biography. Jonathan Eig breaks new ground and radically reshapes our understanding of the slippery figure who was Muhammad Ali.
Mariner Books | 9781328505699
ANATOMY OF A SCANDAL by Sarah Vaughan (Thriller)
Sophie Whitehouse has a lovely home, two adorable children, and a handsome, successful husband. But everything changes the night James comes home and confesses an indiscretion. It turns out that his revelation is just the tip of the iceberg: a larger scandal is about to explode. James stands accused of a terrible crime, and their family is shoved into the spotlight as his trial begins. Meanwhile, behind the scenes, another woman is working to destroy Sophie’s husband. Sophie remains convinced of James’ innocence and is desperate to protect her precious family from the rumors that threaten to rip them apart. Is James the guilty perpetrator or an innocent victim of a toxic agenda?
Atria/Emily Bestler Books | 9781501172175
BLACKFISH CITY by Sam J. Miller (Dystopian Fantasy/Thriller)
After the climate wars, a floating city is constructed in the Arctic Circle. Its denizens have become accustomed to a roughshod new way of living, but crime and corruption have set in, the contradictions of incredible wealth alongside direst poverty are spawning unrest, and a new disease called “the breaks” is ravaging the population. When a strange new visitor arrives --- a woman riding an orca, with a polar bear at her side --- the city is entranced. The “orcamancer,” as she’s known, very subtly brings together four people to stage unprecedented acts of resistance. By banding together to save their city before it crumbles under the weight of its own decay, they will learn shocking truths about themselves.
Ecco | 9780062684875
CARNEGIE'S MAID by Marie Benedict (Historical Fiction)
Clara Kelley is not the experienced Irish maid who was hired to work in one of Pittsburgh's grandest households. She's a poor farmer's daughter with nowhere to go and nothing in her pockets. But the other woman with the same name has vanished, and pretending to be her just might get Clara some money to send back home. Serving as a lady's maid in the household of Andrew Carnegie requires skills he doesn't have, answering to an icy mistress who rules her sons and her domain with an iron fist. What Clara does have is a strong resolve coupled with an uncanny understanding of business, and Andrew begins to rely on her. But Clara can't let her guard down, not even when Andrew becomes something more than an employer.
Sourcebooks Landmark | 9781492662709
CODE GIRLS: The Untold Story of the American Women Code Breakers of World War II by Liza Mundy (History)
Recruited by the U.S. Army and Navy from small towns and elite colleges, more than 10,000 women served as code breakers during World War II. While their brothers and boyfriends took up arms, these women moved to Washington and learned the meticulous work of code-breaking. Their efforts shortened the war, saved countless lives, and gave them access to careers previously denied to them. A strict vow of secrecy nearly erased their efforts from history. Now, through dazzling research and interviews with surviving code girls, Liza Mundy brings to life this riveting and vital story of American courage, service and scientific accomplishment.
Hachette Books | 9780316352543
FALL FROM GRACE by Danielle Steel (Fiction)
Sydney Wells’ perfect life with her wealthy, devoted husband vanishes when he dies suddenly in an accident. Widowed at 49, she discovers he has failed to include her in his will. With Andrew’s vicious daughters in control of his estate, and no home or money, Sydney finds a job in fashion, despite her own designer daughters’ warnings. Naïve, out of her element, and alone in a world of shady international deals and dishonest people, she is set up by her boss and finds herself faced with criminal prosecution. What happens when you lose everything? Faced with prison, Sydney must rebuild her life from the bottom to the top again, with honor, resourcefulness and dignity.
Dell | 9781101884027
FALSE WITNESS by Andrew Grant (Mystery/Thriller)
A woman disappears on her 21st birthday. The following day her body is found, wrapped neatly like a gift. What does Detective Cooper Devereaux have to go on? Very little. Then another victim is discovered. Again, she was killed on her 21st birthday. Again, her body was wrapped like a gift. By the third murder the tabloids have dubbed the homicidal monster the Birthday Killer --- and Devereaux is under the gun. While Devereaux’s own violent and mysterious past nips at his heels, and his fragile home life threatens to unravel, he can’t afford to be anything but totally obsessed with the frantic search through the many layers of this city, from its wealthy enclaves to its dark criminal underbelly.
Ballantine Books | 9780399594359
THE FLOATING WORLD by C. Morgan Babst (Fiction)
THE FLOATING WORLD takes readers into the heart of Hurricane Katrina with the story of the Boisdorés, whose roots stretch back nearly to the foundation of New Orleans. Though the storm is fast approaching the Louisiana coast, Cora, the family’s fragile elder daughter, refuses to leave the city, forcing her parents, Joe Boisdoré, an artist descended from a freed slave who became one of the city’s preeminent furniture makers, and his white “Uptown” wife, Dr. Tess Eshleman, to evacuate without her, setting off a chain of events that leaves their marriage in shambles and Cora catatonic --- the victim or perpetrator of some violence mysterious even to herself.
Algonquin Books | 9781616208639
FRESH COMPLAINT: Stories by Jeffrey Eugenides (Fiction/Short Stories)
Ranging from the bitingly reproductive antics of “Baster” to the dreamy, moving account of a young traveler’s search for enlightenment in “Air Mail,” Jeffrey Eugenides’ first collection of short fiction presents characters in the midst of personal and national emergencies. We meet a failed poet who, envious of other people’s wealth during the real-estate bubble, becomes an embezzler; a clavichordist whose dreams of art founder under the obligations of marriage and fatherhood; and, in “Fresh Complaint,” a high school student whose wish to escape the strictures of her immigrant family leads her to a drastic decision that upends the life of a middle-aged British physicist.
Picador | 9781250192721
THE GLASS FOREST by Cynthia Swanson (Historical/Literary Thriller)
In the autumn of 1960, Angie Glass is living an idyllic life in her Wisconsin hometown. At 21, she is married to charming, handsome Paul and has just given birth to a baby boy. But when Paul’s niece, Ruby, reports that her father, Henry, has committed suicide and that her mother, Silja, is missing, Angie and Paul drop everything and fly to the small upstate town of Stonekill, New York, to be by Ruby’s side. Angie thinks they’re coming to the rescue of Paul’s grief-stricken young niece, but Ruby is a composed and enigmatic 17-year-old who resists Angie’s attempts to nurture her. As Angie learns more about the complicated Glass family, she begins to question the very fabric of her own marriage.
Touchstone | 9781501172106
HARDCORE TWENTY-FOUR: A Stephanie Plum Novel by Janet Evanovich (Mystery)
Trouble comes in bunches for Stephanie Plum. First, professional grave robber and semi-professional loon, Simon Diggery, won’t let her take him in until she agrees to care for his boa constrictor, Ethel. Events take a dark turn when headless bodies start appearing across town. At first, it’s just corpses from a funeral home and the morgue that have had the heads removed. But when a homeless man is murdered and dumped behind a church, Stephanie knows that she’s the only one with a prayer of catching this killer. If all that’s not enough, Diesel is back in town. Trenton’s hottest cop, Joe Morelli, isn’t pleased at this unexpected arrival nor is Ranger, the high-powered security consultant who has his own plans for Stephanie.
G.P. Putnam's Sons | 9780399179211
IT’S ALL RELATIVE: Adventures Up and Down the World's Family Tree by A.J. Jacobs (Memoir/Humor)
A.J. Jacobs has received some strange emails over the years, but this note was perhaps the strangest: “You don’t know me, but I’m your eighth cousin. And we have over 80,000 relatives of yours in our database.” Who are these people, he wondered, and how do I find them? So began A.J.’s three-year adventure to help build the biggest family tree in history. His journey would take him to all seven continents. He drank beer with a US president, found himself singing with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and unearthed genetic links to Hollywood actresses and real-life scoundrels. After all, we can choose our friends, but not our family.
Simon & Schuster | 9781476734507
LEONARDO DA VINCI by Walter Isaacson (Biography)
Based on thousands of pages from Leonardo da Vinci’s astonishing notebooks and new discoveries about his life and work, Walter Isaacson weaves a narrative that connects his art to his science. He shows how Leonardo’s genius was based on skills we can improve in ourselves, such as passionate curiosity, careful observation, and an imagination so playful that it flirted with fantasy. He produced the two most famous paintings in history, The Last Supper and the Mona Lisa. But in his own mind, he was just as much a man of science and technology.
Simon & Schuster | 9781501139161
LOOK FOR ME by Lisa Gardner (Mystery/Thriller)
The home of a family of five is now a crime scene: four of them savagely murdered, one --- a 16-year-old girl --- missing. Was she lucky to have escaped? Or is her absence evidence of something sinister? Detective D. D. Warren is on the case --- but so is survivor-turned-avenger Flora Dane. Seeking different types of justice, they must make sense of the clues left behind by a young woman who, whether as victim or suspect, is silently pleading, Look for me.
Dutton | 9781524742072
MARTIN LUTHER: The Man Who Rediscovered God and Changed the World by Eric Metaxas (Biography)
On All Hallow’s Eve in 1517, a young monk named Martin Luther posted a document he hoped would spark an academic debate, but that instead ignited a conflagration that would forever destroy the world he knew. Five hundred years after Luther’s now famous Ninety-five Theses appeared, Eric Metaxas paints a startling portrait of the wild figure whose adamantine faith cracked the edifice of Western Christendom and dragged medieval Europe into the future. MARTIN LUTHER tells the searing tale of a humble man who, by bringing ugly truths to the highest seats of power, caused the explosion whose sound is still ringing in our ears.
Penguin Books | 9781101980026
MODERN GODS by Nick Laird (Fiction)
Still stuck in the small Northern Irish town where she was born, Alison Donnelly hopes to pick up the pieces and get her life back together. Her sister Liz, a fiercely independent college professor, is about to return to Ulster for Alison’s second wedding, before heading to an island off the coast of Papua New Guinea to make a TV show about the world’s newest religion. Both sisters’ lives are about to be shaken apart. Alison wakes up the day after her wedding to find that her new husband has a past neither of them can escape. Liz finds herself becoming increasingly entangled in the eerie, charged world of Belef, the subject of her show, a charismatic middle-aged woman who is the leader of a cargo cult.
Penguin Books | 9780143110569
THE NIGHT IN QUESTION by Nic Joseph (Psychological Thriller)
Paperback Original
When Paula picks up her last passenger of the night, all she sees is a few more dollars to put toward her husband's medical bills. That's before she recognizes the quiet stranger in her back seat as a world-famous musician and realizes the woman waiting at his destination is not his equally famous wife. So, Paula does what any down-on-her-luck woman would do. She asks for money in exchange for silence. But when a woman is murdered in the same building days later, Paula discovers she is the only witness to the secret affair --- an affair that incriminates the musician. Now, Paula's silence comes at a much more dangerous price.
Sourcebooks Landmark | 9781492668008
POETRY WILL SAVE YOUR LIFE: A Memoir by Jill Bialosky (Memoir)
For Jill Bialosky, certain poems stand out like signposts at pivotal moments in a life: the death of a father, adolescence, first love, leaving home, the suicide of a sister, marriage, the birth of a child, the day in New York City the Twin Towers fell. As Bialosky narrates these moments, she illuminates the ways in which particular poems offered insight, compassion and connection, and shows how poetry can be a blueprint for living. In POETRY WILL SAVE YOUR LIFE, Bialosky recalls when she encountered each formative poem, and how its importance and meaning evolved over time, allowing new insights and perceptions to emerge.
Atria Books | 9781982104825
RED ALERT: An NYPD Mystery by James Patterson and Marshall Karp (Mystery/Thriller)
The richest of New York's rich gather at The Pierre's Cotillion Room to raise money for those less fortunate. A fatal blast rocks the room, stirring up horrifying memories of 9/11. Is the explosion an act of terrorism --- or a homicide? A big-name female filmmaker is the next to die, in a desolate corner of New York City. Detectives Zach Jordan and Kylie MacDonald investigate. But the crimes keep escalating as a shadowy killer masterfully plays out his vendetta --- and threatens to take down NYPD Red in the bargain.
Grand Central Publishing | 9781455542659
RED CLOCKS by Leni Zumas (Fiction)
Abortion is once again illegal in America, in-vitro fertilization is banned, and the Personhood Amendment grants rights of life, liberty and property to every embryo. In a small Oregon fishing town, five very different women navigate these new barriers. Ro, a single high-school teacher, is trying to have a baby on her own, while also writing a biography of Eivør, a little-known 19th-century female polar explorer. Susan is a frustrated mother of two, trapped in a crumbling marriage. Mattie is the adopted daughter of doting parents and one of Ro's best students, who finds herself pregnant with nowhere to turn. And Gin is the gifted, forest-dwelling herbalist, or "mender," who brings all their fates together when she's arrested and put on trial in a frenzied modern-day witch hunt.
Back Bay Books | 9780316434782
THE SADNESS OF BEAUTIFUL THINGS: Stories by Simon Van Booy (Fiction/Short Stories)
Paperback Original
Over the past decade, Simon Van Booy has been listening to people’s stories. With these personal accounts as a starting point, he has crafted a new collection of short fiction that takes readers into the innermost lives of everyday people. From a family saved from ruin by a mysterious benefactor, to a downtrodden boxer who shows unexpected kindness to a mugger, these tales reveal not only the precarious balance maintained between grief and happiness in our lives, but also how the echoes of personal tragedy can shape us for the better.
Penguin Books | 9780143133049
THIS COULD HURT by Jillian Medoff (Fiction)
Rosa Guerrero beat the odds as she rose to the top of the corporate world. A leader who wields power with grace and discretion, she has earned the devotion and loyalty of her staff. No one admires Rosa more than her doting lieutenant Leo Smalls, a benefits vice president whose whole world is Ellery. While Rosa is consumed with trying to address the needs of her staff within the ever-constricting limits of the company’s bottom line, her associate director, Rob Hirsch, a happily married father of two, finds himself drawing closer to his "work wife," Lucy Bender, an enterprising single woman searching for something to fill the vacuum in her personal life. For Kenny Verville, a senior manager with an MBA, Ellery is a temporary stepping-stone to bigger and better places --- that is, if his high-powered wife has her way.
Harper Paperbacks | 9780062660770
UNDER MY SKIN by Lisa Unger (Psychological Thriller)
Paperback Original
It’s been a year since Poppy’s husband, Jack, was brutally murdered during his morning run through Manhattan’s Riverside Park. In the immediate aftermath, Poppy spiraled into an oblivion of grief, disappearing for several days only to turn up ragged and confused. Those lost days have never stopped haunting her. Poppy starts having nightmares and blackouts --- there are periods of time she can’t remember, and she’s unable to tell the difference between what is real and what she’s imagining. When she begins to sense that someone is following her, Poppy is plunged into a game of cat and mouse, determined to unravel the mystery around her husband’s death. But can she handle the truth about what really happened?
Park Row | 9780778369783
THE WAYS OF WOLFE: A Border Noir by James Carlos Blake (Noir Thriller)
Twenty years ago, college student Axel Prince Wolfe --- heir apparent to his Texas family's esteemed law firm and its "shade trade" criminal enterprises --- teamed up with his best friend, Billy, and a Mexican stranger in a high-end robbery that went wrong. Abandoned by his partners, he was captured and imprisoned, his family disgraced, his wife absconded, his infant daughter Jessie left an orphan. Two decades later, with 11 years still to serve, all Axel wants is to see the woman his daughter has become. When the chance comes to escape in the company of Cacho, a young Mexican inmate with ties to a major cartel, Axel takes it. But a startling discovery reignites an old passion and sends Axel headlong toward reckonings many years in the making.
Mysterious Press | 9780802128713
WHEN THE MEN WERE GONE by Marjorie Herrera Lewis (Historical Fiction)
Paperback Original
Football is the heartbeat of Brownwood, Texas. Every Friday night, for as long as assistant principal Tylene Wilson can remember, the entire town has gathered in the stands, cheering their boys on. But the war has changed everything. Most of the Brownwood men over 18 and under 45 are off fighting. Could this mean a season without football? No one counted on Tylene, who knows more about the game than most men and does the unthinkable, convincing the school to let her take on the job of coach. Faced with extreme opposition, Tylene remains resolute. And when her boys rally around her, she leads the team --- and the town --- to a Friday night and a subsequent season they will never forget.
William Morrow Paperbacks | 9780062836052
WHITE CHRYSANTHEMUM by Mary Lynn Bracht (Historical Fiction)
Korea, 1943. Hana has lived her entire life under Japanese occupation. As a haenyeo, a female diver of the sea, she enjoys an independence that few other Koreans can still claim. Until the day Hana saves her younger sister from a Japanese soldier and is herself captured and transported to Manchuria. There she is forced to become a “comfort woman” in a Japanese military brothel. But haenyeo are women of power and strength. She will find her way home. South Korea, 2011. Emi has spent more than 60 years trying to forget the sacrifice her sister made, but she must confront the past to discover peace. Seeing the healing of her children and her country, can Emi move beyond the legacy of war to find forgiveness?
G.P. Putnam's Sons | 9780735214446
WOLF’S REVENGE: A Leo Maxwell Mystery by Lachlan Smith (Mystery)
Attorney-detective Leo Maxwell seeks an exit strategy from his family’s deepening entanglement with a ruthless prison-based gang. Caught between the criminals and the FBI, Leo charts his own path in defending a young woman who was manipulated into brazenly murdering a member of the Aryan Brotherhood in San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood. When the consequences strike heartbreakingly close to home, Leo, his brother Teddy, and the rest of the family are forced into a winner-takes-all confrontation with men who don’t care how many innocents they harm in achieving their goals.
Mysterious Press | 9780802128720
YEAR ONE: Chronicles of the One, Book 1 by Nora Roberts (Dystopian Fantasy)
It began on New Year’s Eve. The sickness came on suddenly, and spread quickly. Within weeks, everything people counted on began to fail them. The electrical grid sputtered, law and government collapsed --- and more than half of the world’s population was decimated. As the power of science and technology receded, magick rose up in its place. Some of it is good, like the witchcraft worked by Lana Bingham. Some of it is unimaginably evil, and it can lurk anywhere. In a world of survivors where every stranger encountered could be either a savage or a savior, none of them knows exactly where they are heading, or why. But a purpose awaits them that will shape their lives and the lives of all those who remain.
St. Martin’s Griffin | 9781250122964
On Sale the Week of October 8th in Hardcover
October 8th
AMBUSH: A Detective Michael Bennett Thriller by James Patterson and James O. Born (Thriller)
An anonymous tip about a crime in Upper Manhattan proves to be a setup. An officer is taken down --- and, despite the attackers' efforts, it's not Michael Bennett. New York's top cop is not the only one at risk. One of Bennett's children sustains a mysterious injury. And a series of murders follows, each with a distinct signature, alerting Bennett to the presence of a professional killer with a flair for disguise. Bennett taps his best investigators and sources, and they fan out across the five boroughs. But the leads they're chasing turn out to be phantoms. The assassin takes advantage of the chaos, enticing an officer into compromising Bennett, then luring another member of Bennett's family into even graver danger.
Little, Brown and Company | 9780316273985
October 9th
BRIGHT RUIN by Vic James (Dystopian Fantasy)
The lower classes must give 10 years in service to Britain’s powerfully gifted rulers. With one uprising crushed by the glittering elite, commoners and aristocrats alike now take sides for a final confrontation. At the center of it all are Abi Hadley and her brother, Luke. Each has reason to hate the ruling Jardine family. Abi, who was once their servant, now seeks revenge for a terrible wrong. Luke was imprisoned on their whim --- but his only hope may be an alliance with the youngest and most powerful of the clan, the cold and inscrutable Silyen Jardine. Risking everything to end a bright and shining tyranny, Abi, Luke and Silyen find themselves bound by a single destiny. Their actions will change their fates --- and the world --- but at a cost almost too terrible to contemplate.
Del Rey | 9780425284186
THE CLOCKMAKER'S DAUGHTER by Kate Morton (Historical Fiction)
In the summer of 1862, a group of young artists descends upon Birchwood Manor in rural Oxfordshire. By the time their stay is over, one woman has been shot dead while another has disappeared; a priceless heirloom is missing; and Edward Radcliffe's life is in ruins. Over 150 years later, Elodie Winslow, a young archivist in London, uncovers a leather satchel with two seemingly unrelated items in it: a sepia photograph of an arresting-looking woman in Victorian clothing, and an artist's sketchbook containing the drawing of a twin-gabled house on the bend of a river. Why does Birchwood Manor feel so familiar to Elodie? And who is the beautiful woman in the photograph? Will she ever give up her secrets?
Atria Books | 9781451649390
CRISIS: A Dick Francis Novel by Felix Francis (Thriller)
Harrison Foster, a crisis manager for a London firm, is summoned to Newmarket after a fire in the Chadwick Stables kills six very valuable horses, including the short-priced favorite for the Derby. There is far more to the "simple" fire than initially meets the eye. For a start, human remains are found among the equestrian ones in the burnt-out shell. All the stable staff are accounted for, so who is the mystery victim? Harry represents the Middle Eastern owner of the Derby favorite, and as he delves deeper into the unanswered questions surrounding the horse's demise, he ignites a fuse that blows the volcano sky-high. Can Harry solve the riddle before he is bumped off by the fallout?
G.P. Putnam's Sons | 9780525536765
DOMINION: The History of England from the Battle of Waterloo to Victoria's Diamond Jubilee by Peter Ackroyd (History)
DOMINION, the fifth volume of Peter Ackroyd’s History of England, begins in 1815 as national glory following the Battle of Waterloo gives way to a post-war depression and ends with the death of Queen Victoria in January 1901. Spanning the end of the Regency, Ackroyd takes readers from the accession of the profligate George IV, whose government was steered by Lord Liverpool, whose face was set against reform, to the “Sailor King” William IV, whose reign saw the modernization of the political system and the abolition of slavery. But it was the accession of Queen Victoria, at only 18 years old, that sparked an era of enormous innovation.
Thomas Dunne Books | 9781250003652
THE FALLEN ARCHITECT by Charles Belfoure (Historical Thriller)
When the Britannia Theatre's balcony collapses, killing over a dozen people, the fingers point at the architect. He should have known better, should have made it safer, should have done something. Douglas Layton knows the flaw wasn't in his design, but he can't fight a guilty verdict. When he is finally released from prison, he has nothing: no job, no family, nowhere to go. He needs to assume a new identity and rebuild his life. But he soon finds himself digging up the past in a way he never anticipated. If the collapse was not an accident, who caused it? And why? And what if they find out who he used to be?
Sourcebooks Landmark | 9781492662716
THE GIRL FROM BERLIN by Ronald H. Balson (Historical Fiction)
An old friend calls Catherine Lockhart and Liam Taggart to his famous Italian restaurant to enlist their help. His aunt is being evicted from her home in the Tuscan hills by a powerful corporation claiming they own the deeds, even though she can produce her own set of deeds to her land. Catherine and Liam’s only clue is a bound handwritten manuscript, entirely in German, and hidden in its pages is a story long-forgotten. What became of Ada Baumgarten? How is she connected to the conflicting land deeds of a small Italian villa? As they dig through the layers of lies, corruption and human evil, Catherine and Liam uncover an unfinished story of heart, redemption and hope --- the ending of which is yet to be written.
St. Martin's Press | 9781250195241
HOLY GHOST: A Virgil Flowers Novel by John Sandford (Mystery/Thriller)
Pinion, Minnesota: a metropolis of all of 700 souls, for which the word "moribund" might have been invented. Nothing ever happened there and nothing ever would --- until the mayor of sorts (campaign slogan: "I'll Do What I Can") and a buddy come up with a scheme to put Pinion on the map. They'd heard of a place where a floating image of the Virgin Mary had turned the whole town into a shrine, attracting thousands of pilgrims. And all those pilgrims needed food, shelter, all kinds of crazy things, right? They'd all get rich! What could go wrong? When the dead body shows up, they find out, and that's only the beginning of their troubles --- and Virgil Flowers' --- as they are all about to discover all too soon.
G.P. Putnam's Sons | 9780735217324
INVISIBLE: The Forgotten Story of the Black Woman Lawyer Who Took Down America's Most Powerful Mobster by Stephen L. Carter (Biography)
Eunice Hunton Carter, Stephen Carter’s grandmother, was raised in a world of stultifying expectations about race and gender, yet by the 1940s, her professional and political successes had made her one of the most famous black women in America. But her triumphs were shadowed by prejudice and tragedy. Greatly complicating her rise was her difficult relationship with her younger brother, Alphaeus, an avowed Communist who --- together with his friend Dashiell Hammett --- would go to prison during the McCarthy era. Yet she remained unbowed. INVISIBLE tells the true story of a woman who often found her path blocked by the social and political expectations of her time. But Eunice Carter never accepted defeat.
Henry Holt and Co. | 9781250121974
KILLING COMMENDATORE written by Haruki Murakami, translated by Philip Gabriel and Ted Goossen (Fiction)
A thirty-something portrait painter in Tokyo is abandoned by his wife and finds himself holed up in the mountain home of a famous artist, Tomohiko Amada. When he discovers a previously unseen painting in the attic, he unintentionally opens a circle of mysterious circumstances. To close it, he must complete a journey that involves a mysterious ringing bell, a two-foot-high physical manifestation of an Idea, a dapper businessman who lives across the valley, a precocious 13-year-old girl, a Nazi assassination attempt during World War II in Vienna, a pit in the woods behind the artist’s home, and an underworld haunted by Double Metaphors.
Knopf | 9780525520047
KILLING THE SS: The Hunt for the Worst War Criminals in History by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard (History)
As the true horrors of the Third Reich began to be exposed immediately after World War II, the Nazi war criminals who committed genocide went on the run. A few were swiftly caught, including the notorious SS leader Heinrich Himmler. Others, however, evaded capture through a sophisticated Nazi organization designed to hide them. KILLING THE SS is the epic saga of the espionage and daring waged by self-styled "Nazi hunters." Over decades, these men and women scoured the world, tracking down the SS fugitives and bringing them to justice, which often meant death.
Henry Holt and Co. | 9781250165541
LOVE IS BLIND by William Boyd (Fiction)
Brodie Moncur is a brilliant piano tuner, as brilliant in his own way as John Kilbarron, the pianist Brodie accompanies on all of his tours from Paris to Saint Petersburg. It is a luxurious life, and a level of success Brodie could hardly have dreamed of growing up in a remote Scottish village, in a household ruled by a tyrannical father. But Brodie would gladly give it all up for the love of the Russian soprano Lika Blum: beautiful, worldly, seductive --- and consort to Kilbarron. And though seemingly doomed from the start, Brodie's passion for her only grows as their lives become increasingly more intertwined, more secretive and, finally, more dangerous.
Knopf | 9780525655268
THE NEXT PERSON YOU MEET IN HEAVEN by Mitch Albom (Fiction)
The accident that killed Eddie in THE FIVE PEOPLE YOU MEET IN HEAVEN left an indelible mark on Annie, the young girl whose life he saved. Injured, scarred and unable to remember why, Annie’s life is forever changed by a guilt-ravaged mother who whisks her away from the world she knew. When, as a young woman, she reconnects with Paulo, her childhood love, she believes she has finally found happiness. As the novel opens, Annie is marrying Paulo. But when her wedding night ends in an unimaginable accident, Annie finds herself on her own heavenly journey --- and an inevitable reunion with Eddie, one of the five people who will show her how her life mattered in ways she could not have fathomed.
Harper | 9780062294449
NOVEMBER ROAD by Lou Berney (Historical Thriller)
A loyal street lieutenant to New Orleans’ mob boss, Carlos Marcello, Frank Guidry knows too much about the crime of the century: the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Within hours of JFK’s murder, everyone with ties to Marcello is turning up dead, and Guidry suspects he’s next. With few good options, Guidry hits the road to Las Vegas, to see an old associate --- a dangerous man who hates Marcello enough to help Guidry vanish. When Guidry sees a beautiful housewife on the side of the road with a broken-down car, two little daughters and a dog in the back seat, he sees the perfect disguise to cover his tracks from the hit men on his tail.
William Morrow | 9780062663849
OPEN YOUR EYES by Paula Daly (Psychological Thriller)
Jane Campbell avoids confrontation at any costs. Given the choice, she’ll always let her husband, Leon --- a bestselling crime writer --- take the lead, while she focuses on her two children and her job as a creative writing teacher. After she receives another rejection for her novel, Leon urges Jane to put her hobby to rest. And why shouldn’t she, when they appear to have the perfect house and the perfect life? But then Leon is brutally attacked in their driveway, and suddenly their perfect life becomes the stuff of nightmares. Who would commit such a hateful offense? With her husband in a coma, Jane must open her eyes to the problems in her life, as well as the secrets that have been kept from her.
Grove Press | 9780802128454
PENNED: A Kate Turner, DVM, Mystery by Eileen Brady (Mystery)
Dr. Kate Turner, DVM, is seven months into her one-year contract to cover for a Hudson Valley vet taking a year-long world cruise. Gloria LaGuardia has been installed at an assisted living center by her niece. They bump into Kate at the Oak Falls annual Halloween street bash. While Gloria's conversation indicates some mental confusion, she's still sharp. She says, "Someone evil is here. I saw him." Saw who? Will this chance meeting draw Kate into the path of Carl Wolf, a notorious fugitive 21 years on the FBI's Most Wanted List? Is Wolf hiding in plain sight in or around Oak Falls? When Gloria, once an artist endowed with a sharp eye, is murdered, Kate doesn't know what to think.
Poisoned Pen Press | 9781464211096
PRESIDENTS OF WAR: The Epic Story, from 1807 to Modern Times by Michael Beschloss (History/Politics)
Ten years in the research and writing, PRESIDENTS OF WAR is a fresh, magisterial, intimate look at a procession of American leaders as they took the nation into conflict and mobilized their country for victory. It brings us into the room as they make the most difficult decisions that face any President, at times sending hundreds of thousands of American men and women to their deaths. From James Madison and the War of 1812 to recent times, we see them struggling with Congress, the courts, the press, their own advisors and antiwar protesters. We come to understand how these Presidents were able to withstand the pressures of war --- both physically and emotionally --- or were broken by them.
Crown | 9780307409607
SHELL by Kristina Olsson (Historical Fiction)
Newspaper reporter Pearl Keogh has put her job in jeopardy to become involved in the anti-war movement. She is desperate to locate her two runaway brothers before they’re called to serve in the Vietnam War. Newly arrived from Sweden, Axel Lindquist is set to work as a sculptor on the besieged Sydney Opera House. He seeks to reinvent himself in this utterly foreign landscape, and finds artistic inspiration --- and salvation --- in the monument to modernity that is being constructed on Sydney’s Harbor. But as the nation hurtles towards yet another war, Jørn Utzon, the Opera House’s controversial architect, is nowhere to be found --- and Axel fears that the past he has tried to outrun may be catching up with him.
Atria Books | 9781501193132
WHEN YOU FIND ME by P. J. Vernon (Psychological Thriller)
Visiting her family’s South Carolina estate, socialite Gray Godfrey wakes from a night out to an empty bed. Her husband Paul is gone, and a thrashing hangover has wiped her memory clean. At first, she’s relieved for the break from her tumultuous marriage. But when his car is found abandoned on the highway, Gray must face the truth: Paul is gone. When a stranger named Annie calls claiming to know Paul’s whereabouts, Gray reluctantly accepts her help. But this ally is not what she seems: soon Annie is sending frightening messages and revealing disturbing secrets only Gray could know. As Annie’s threats escalate and Gray’s grip on reality begins to slip, the life she thought she had and the dark truth she’s been living begin to merge.
Crooked Lane Books | 9781683317494
WINTER IN PARADISE by Elin Hilderbrand (Fiction)
Irene Steele's idyllic life is shattered when she is woken up by a late-night phone call. Her beloved husband has been found dead, but before Irene can process this tragic news, she must confront the perplexing details of his death. He was found on St. John island, a tropical paradise far removed from their suburban life. Leaving the cold winter behind, Irene flies down to the beautiful Caribbean beaches of St. John only to make another shocking discovery: her husband had a secret second family. As Irene investigates the mysterious circumstances of her husband's death, she is plunged into a web of intrigue and deceit belied by the pristine white sand beaches of St. John's.
Little, Brown and Company | 9780316435512
THE WITCH ELM by Tana French (Thriller)
Toby is a happy-go-lucky charmer who has dodged a scrape at work and is celebrating with friends when the night takes a turn that will change his life --- he surprises two burglars who beat him and leave him for dead. Struggling to recover from his injuries, beginning to understand that he might never be the same man again, he takes refuge at his family's ancestral home to care for his dying uncle Hugo. Then a skull is found in the trunk of an elm tree in the garden --- and as detectives close in, Toby is forced to face the possibility that his past may not be what he has always believed.
Viking | 9780735224629
WRECKED: An IQ Novel by Joe Ide (Mystery)
A series of high-profile wins in his hometown of East Long Beach have made Isaiah Quintabe (IQ for short) so notorious that he can hardly go to the corner store without being recognized. Dodson, once his sidekick, is now his full-fledged partner, hell-bent on giving IQ's PI business some real legitimacy. So when a young painter approaches IQ for help tracking down her missing mother, it's not just the case Isaiah's looking for, but the human connection. And when his new confidant turns out to be connected to a dangerous paramilitary operation, IQ falls victim to a threat even a genius can't see coming.
Mulholland Books | 9780316509510
On Sale the Week of October 8th in Paperback
October 9th
THE BURN ZONE: A Memoir by Renee Linnell (Memoir)
Paperback Original
After seven years of faithfully following her spiritual teacher, Renee Linnell finally realized she was in a cult and had been severely brainwashed. But how did that happen to someone like her? She had graduated magna cum laude with a double degree. She had traveled to nearly 50 countries alone before she turned 35. She was a surf model and a professional Argentine tango dancer. She had started five different companies and had an MBA from NYU. THE BURN ZONE is an exploration of how we give up our power --- how what started out as a need to heal from the loss of her parents and to understand the big questions in life could leave a young woman fighting for her sanity and her sense of self.
She Writes Press | 9781631524875
CRAZY LIKE A FOX by Rita Mae Brown (Mystery)
Sister Jane Arnold takes a scenic drive up the Blue Ridge Mountains for a board meeting at the Museum of Hounds and Hunting. Brimming with colorful stories and mementos from hunts of yore, the mansion is plunged into mystery when a venerable hunting horn is stolen right out of its case. The only clue, on a left-behind cell phone, is what seems to be a “selfie” video of the horn’s original owner, Wesley Carruthers --- deceased since 1954. Odder still, Wesley’s body was never found. When Sister makes a discovery that may explain his unsolved disappearance, it leads her back to the Jefferson Hunt at midcentury. But as the clues quickly mount, Sister is no longer sure if she’s pursuing a priceless artifact, a thief, Wesley’s killer…or a ghost.
Ballantine Books | 9780399178368
DARE NOT LINGER: The Presidential Years by Nelson Mandela and Mandla Langa (Memoir)
In 1994, Nelson Mandela became the first president of a democratic South Africa. During his presidency, he and his government ensured that all of South Africa’s citizens became equal before the law, and he laid the foundation for turning a country riven by centuries of colonialism and apartheid into a fully functioning democracy. DARE NOT LINGER is the story of Mandela’s presidential years, drawing heavily on the memoir he began to write as he prepared to leave office, but was unable to finish. Now the acclaimed South African writer Mandla Langa has completed the task, using Mandela’s unfinished draft, detailed notes that Mandela made as events were unfolding, and a wealth of unseen archival material.
Picador | 9781250192806
FROM HERE TO ETERNITY: Traveling the World to Find the Good Death by Caitlin Doughty (Sociology/Memoir)
Fascinated by our pervasive fear of dead bodies, mortician Caitlin Doughty embarks on a global expedition to discover how other cultures care for the dead. From Zoroastrian sky burials to wish-granting Bolivian skulls, she investigates the world’s funerary customs and expands our sense of what it means to treat the dead with dignity. Her account questions the rituals of the American funeral industry --- especially chemical embalming --- and suggests that the most effective traditions are those that allow mourners to personally attend to the body of the deceased.
W. W. Norton & Company | 9780393356281
GOOD ME BAD ME by Ali Land (Psychological Thriller)
Milly’s mother is a serial killer. Though Milly loves her mother, the only way to make her stop is to turn her in to the police. Milly is given a fresh start: a new identity, a home with an affluent foster family, and a spot at an exclusive private school. But Milly has secrets, and life at her new home becomes complicated. As her mother’s trial looms, with Milly as the star witness, Milly starts to wonder how much of her is nature, how much of her is nurture, and whether she is doomed to turn out like her mother after all. When tensions rise and Milly feels trapped by her shiny new life, she has to decide: Will she be good? Or is she bad? She is, after all, her mother's daughter.
Flatiron Books | 9781250087669
KICK-ASS KINDA GIRL: A Memoir of Life, Love, and Caregiving by Kathi Koll (Memoir)
Paperback Original
When her husband, Don, called on his way to the hospital, Kathi Koll had no idea how dramatically their lives would change --- or how her loving heart and indomitable spirit would fight it. With unflinching honesty and humor, Kathi shares the realities of a life in uncharted territory as a full-time caregiver, from turning her home into a mobile hospital to the complications of intimacy. Her ability to share sorrows while laughing at herself helped her find a New Normal where she and Don could live each day to its fullest. Her journey, steeped in the joy of living in the moment, teaches us what it means to never lose hope for tomorrow --- at the best of times and under the worst of circumstances.
Ward Publishing | 9781732364905
LADY OF A THOUSAND TREASURES by Sandra Byrd (Historical Romance)
Paperback Original
Miss Eleanor Sheffield is a talented evaluator of antiquities, but the family business is at risk. In the Victorian era, unmarried Eleanor cannot run Sheffield Brothers alone. The death of a longtime client, Baron Lydney, offers an unexpected complication when Eleanor is appointed the temporary trustee of the baron’s legendary collection. She must choose whether to donate the priceless treasures to a museum or allow them to pass to the baron’s only living son, Harry --- the man who broke her heart. Eleanor knows that donating the baron’s collection would win her favor among potential clients, saving Sheffield Brothers. But the more time she spends with Harry, the more her faith in him grows. Might Harry be worthy of his inheritance, and her heart, after all?
Tyndale House Publishers | 9781496426833
LENIN: The Man, the Dictator, and the Master of Terror by Victor Sebestyen (Biography)
Brought up in comfort and with a passion for hunting and fishing, chess and the English classics, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin was radicalized after the execution of his brother in 1887. Victor Sebestyen traces the story from Lenin's early years to his long exile in Europe and return to Petrograd in 1917 to lead the first Communist revolution in history. Uniquely, Sebestyen has discovered that throughout Lenin's life his closest relationships were with his mother, his sisters, his wife and his mistress. The long-suppressed story told here of the love triangle that Lenin had with his wife and his beautiful, married mistress and comrade reveals a more complicated character than that of the coldly one-dimensional leader of the Bolshevik Revolution.
Vintage | 9781101974308
THE LIES WE TOLD by Camilla Way (Psychological Thriller)
Paperback Original
Beth has always known there was something strange about her daughter, Hannah --- the lack of emotion, the disturbing behavior, the apparent delight in hurting others. Sometimes Beth is scared of her and what she could be capable of. Luke comes from the perfect family, with the perfect parents. But one day, he disappears without a trace, and his girlfriend, Clara, is desperate to discover what has happened to him. As Clara digs into the past, she realizes that no family is truly perfect, and uncovers a link between Luke's long-lost sister and a strange girl named Hannah. Now Luke's life is in danger because of the lies once told and the secrets once kept. Can Clara find him before it's too late?
Berkley | 9781101989524
THE LIGHTHOUSE KEEPER'S DAUGHTER by Hazel Gaynor (Historical Fiction)
Paperback Original
1838: Northumberland, England. Longstone Lighthouse has been Grace Darling’s home for all of her 22 years. When she and her father rescue shipwreck survivors in a furious storm, Grace becomes celebrated throughout England. But far more precious than her unsought fame is the friendship that develops between Grace and visiting artist George Emmerson. 1938: Newport, Rhode Island. A pregnant Matilda Emmerson has been sent away from Ireland in disgrace. She is to stay with Harriet, a reclusive relative and assistant lighthouse keeper, until her baby is born. A discarded, half-finished portrait opens a window into Matilda’s family history. As a deadly hurricane approaches, two women --- living a century apart --- will be linked forever by their instinctive acts of courage and love.
William Morrow Paperbacks | 9780062698629
MERRY AND BRIGHT by Debbie Macomber (Romance)
Merry Knight is taking care of her family, baking cookies, decorating for the holidays, and hoping to stay out of the crosshairs of her stressed and by-the-book boss at the consulting firm where she temps. Her own social life is the last thing she has in mind, much less a man. Without her knowledge, Merry’s well-meaning mom and brother create an online dating profile for her --- minus her photo --- and the matches start rolling in. Soon Merry finds herself chatting with a charming stranger, a man with similar interests and an unmistakably kind soul. But meeting face-to-face is altogether different, and her special friend is the last person Merry expects --- or desires.
Ballantine Books | 9780399181245
MRS. OSMOND by John Banville (Historical Fiction)
In MRS. OSMOND, John Banville continues the story of Isabel Archer, the young protagonist of Henry James’ beloved THE PORTRAIT OF A LADY. Eager but naïve, in James’ novel Isabel comes into a large, unforeseen inheritance and marries the charming, penniless, and --- as Isabel finds out too late --- cruel and deceitful Gilbert Osmond. Here Banville imagines Isabel’s second chapter, telling the story of a woman reawakened by grief and the knowledge that she has been grievously wronged, and determined to resume her quest for freedom and independence.
Vintage | 9781101972892
NEVER COMING BACK by Alison McGhee (Fiction)
When Clara Winter left her rural Adirondacks town for college, she never looked back. Her mother, Tamar, a loving but fiercely independent woman who raised Clara on her own, all but pushed her out the door, and so Clara built a new life for herself. Now more than a decade has passed, and Clara, a successful writer, has been summoned home. Tamar has become increasingly forgetful and can no longer live on her own. But just as her mother’s memory is declining, Clara’s questions are building. Why was Tamar so insistent that Clara leave all those years ago? Just what secrets was she hiding?
Mariner Books | 9781328502025
THE RIVER OF CONSCIOUSNESS by Oliver Sacks (Science)
Oliver Sacks is beloved by readers for the extraordinary neurological case histories in which he explored many now-familiar disorders. He was also a memoirist who wrote with honesty and humor about the remarkable experiences that shaped him. In the pieces that comprise THE RIVER OF CONSCIOUSNESS, Dr. Sacks takes on evolution, botany, chemistry, medicine, neuroscience and the arts, and calls upon his great scientific and creative heroes --- above all, Darwin, Freud and William James. The questions they explored --- the meaning of evolution, the roots of creativity, and the nature of consciousness --- lie at the heart of science and of this book.
Vintage | 9780804171007
SLEEP NO MORE: Six Murderous Tales by P. D. James (Mystery/Short Stories)
When it comes to crime, it’s not always a question of “whodunit?” Sometimes there’s more mystery in the why or the how. And what about the clever few who carry out what appears to be the perfect crime? Or whose most essential selves are changed by the crimes they commit? And what about those who know the identity of the murderer but keep the information to themselves? These are some of the questions that these six stories begin to unlock as they draw us into the inner workings --- the thoughts and emotional machinations, the recollections and rationalizations, the dreams and desires --- behind both murderous cause and effect.
Vintage | 9780525436652
TELL TALE: Stories by Jeffrey Archer (Fiction/Short Stories)
Nearly a decade after his last volume of short stories was published, Jeffrey Archer returns with TELL TALE, giving us fascinating insight into the people he has met, the stories he has come across, and the countries he has visited during the past 10 years. Find out what happens to the hapless young detective from Naples who travels to an Italian hillside town to find out "Who Killed the Mayor?" and the pretentious schoolboy in "A Road to Damascus," whose discovery of the origins of his father’s wealth changes his life in the most profound way. Revel in the stories of the 1930s woman who dares to challenge the men at her Ivy League University in "A Gentleman and a Scholar," while another young woman who thumbs a lift gets more than she bargained for in "A Wasted Hour."
St. Martin's Griffin | 9781250199584
THE TRUST by Ronald H. Balson (Historical Fiction)
When his uncle dies, Liam Taggart reluctantly returns to his childhood home in Northern Ireland for the funeral --- a home he left years ago after a bitter confrontation with his family. But when he arrives, Liam learns that not only was his uncle shot to death, but that he had anticipated his own murder. In an astonishing last will and testament, Uncle Fergus has left his entire estate to a secret trust, directing that no distributions be made to any person until the killer is found. As his investigation draws Liam farther and farther into the past he has abandoned, he realizes he is forced to reopen doors long ago shut and locked.
St. Martin's Griffin | 9781250127457
WHITE DANCING ELEPHANTS: Stories by Chaya Bhuvaneswar (Fiction/Short Stories)
Paperback Original
A woman grieves a miscarriage, haunted by the Buddha’s birth. An artist with schizophrenia tries to survive hatred and indifference in small-town India by turning to the beauty of sculpture and dance. Orphans in India get pulled into a strange “rescue” mission aimed at stripping their mysterious powers. A brief but intense affair between two women culminates in regret and betrayal. And fragments of history, from child brickmakers to slaves in Renaissance Portugal, are held up in brief fictions, burnished, made dazzling and unforgettable. In 16 remarkable stories, Chaya Bhuvaneswar spotlights diverse women of color facing sexual harassment and racial violence, and occasionally inflicting that violence on each other.
Dzanc Books | 9781945814617
|
