Another week, another batch of books for your TBR pile. Happy reading, folks.
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Andrea Bartz, We Were Never Here
(Ballantine)
“Bartz takes the idea of a ‘frenemy’ to new heights. . . . Yet another expert vivisection of female modes of communication and competition.”
–Los Angeles Times
Megan Abbott, The Turnout
(Putnam)
“Abbott’s novels are often described as crime fiction, and, while indeed she works with mystery and suspense and draws on noir and Gothic tropes, her goal seems less to construct intricate, double-crossing plot problems than to explore the dark side of femininity….In other words, Megan Abbott is a mood.”
–The New York Times Book Review
Naomi Hirahara, Clark and Division
(Soho)
“Naomi Hirahara’s Clark and Division opened my heart and mind to specifics of the experience of Japanese Americans during the Second World War. Rich in period detail, it is page-turning historical fiction, a tender family story, and a mystery that plays on two levels: What happened to Rose Ito? and At what cost are Japanese Americans finally seen as full Americans? It’s a story that moved me deeply.”
–Attica Locke
Timothy Chaffert, The Perfume Thief
(Doubleday)
“Did someone say ‘queer espionage’? Clementine is one of the best protagonists of the summer… Other authors have had clever takes on World War II spy novels, but none has created a voice like Clem’s, at once a true artist and a woman spinning a tale to save her life.“
–Los Angeles Times
Martin Walker, The Coldest Case
(Knopf)
“Walker really shines in portraying the Dordogne—and Bruno’s idyllic life there. . . . New readers to the series can comfortably start here—Walker has the rare ability in a series writer of orienting old and new readers alike. A feast.”
–Connie Fletcher, Booklist
Stephen King, Billy Summers
(Scribner)
“King’s latest endeavor begins with a familiar premise: decorated veteran Billy Summers, a principled hit man on the eve of retirement, agrees to do one last job. Things go south in spectacularly bad fashion, making for a characteristically King thriller about luck, fate, and redemption. To see the undisputed master of horror shift into the realm of noir thrillers is proof that King can still surprise and astound us, all these decades later.”
–Esquire
LaTanya McQueen, When the Reckoning Comes
(Harper Perennial)
“LaTanya McQueen writes brilliantly and incisively about the haunted histories that lurk behind landscapes and road signs; the tidal pull of childhood friendships; what it means to leave home and what it means to return. When the Reckoning Comes is an extraordinary, beautifully-crafted debut.”
–Laura van den Berg
Mark Billingham, Rabbit Hole
(Atlantic Monthly)
“Follow Alice―plucky, resourceful, lovable and infuriating―down the Rabbit Hole in Billingham’s fast-paced and twisting thriller.”
–Paula Hawkins
Claire Douglas, Then She Vanishes
(Harper)
“Gillian Flynn fans and devotees of the ‘girls gone missing’ genre would enjoy the well-framed narrative of twists and turns, especially the final revelation.”
–Booklist
Moises Naim, Two Spies in Caracas
(Amazon Crossing)
“Naím wields his experiences as an international affairs writer and former Venezuelan economic cabinet member to provide authoritative insights into the severe economic downturns and rises in violence stemming from the power plays of external actors seeking to exploit a vulnerable nation in turmoil. This is a must for anyone who wants to explore this tumultuous and often strange period in modern Latin American history.”
–Publishers Weekly
