New Releases for the Week of March 10, 2014

Hide the wallets, here comes this week's new releases!

  

The Accident by Chris Pavone (Crown, March 11, 2014). The Accident is the much anticipated second novel from Pavone who won the coveted Best First Novel Edgar Award with his smash debut effort, The Expats. And I'm here to tell you, The Accident does not disappoint. An anonymous book manuscript, international espionage, and all sorts of delectable glimpses into the world of publishing make this one a page turner that kept me up to the wee hours. Peek in tomorrow for a full review, but for now suffice it to say that Pavone is one author who just keeps nailing it. I feel like I should be giving him a standing ovation.

The Detainee by Peter Liney (Jo Fletcher Books, March 11, 2014). Jo Fletcher Books, an imprint of Quercus Books, has been releasing some damned good novels recently. The Detainee, a debut dytopia novel and allegedly the first in a proposed trilogy, is a fine example. In Liney's imagined future, America's sick and elderly are considered societal leeches and banished to the Island to die. No one escapes from the Island and the horrors there are nearly unimaginable. Retired mob hitman Clancy certainly never imagined he would be banished to the Island but once there he finds himself thrown together with the most unlikely of allies. Liney takes a chance writing dystopia for a non-YA audience and the result is admirable. He also offers something not often found in the genre: hope. Overall The Detainee is a welcome addition to the genre and I think it will appeal to fans. I know I will eagerly await the next book in the series. If dystopia appeals to you, keep your eyes open for this one.

The Weight of Blood by Laura McHugh (Spiegel & Grau, March 11, 2014).  Deep in the Ozarks, a young woman is murdered and a small town is hiding secrets in this gripping debut mystery. Told in a multiple narrative that alternates between past and present, The Weight of Blood is swathed in Gothic Southern darkness that simply oozes creepy atmosphere. I'll be featuring a full-blown review of this one later in the week...I loved it that much!

                                                     

Shotgun Lovesongs by Nickolas Butler (Thomas Dunne Books, March 11, 2014). I've been seeing the buzz on this book for weeks and I think I've had a library hold on the darned thing since it was first listed in my library's catalog. Butler's novel about four men who grew up together in a a small town in Wisconsin and are reunited for a wedding is being lauded everywhere I look. The dynamics of friendship, loyalty, trust --- all taking place in the American heartland --- makes this book sound like a must-read. I'll be letting you know just as soon as I get my grubby little mitts on it.

                                                   

The Setup Man by T. T. Monday (Doubleday, March 11, 2014). Okay, baseball fans. I've got my eye on this new mystery series that features an aging major league pitcher who, lacking any meaningful savings from his glory days in baseball, decides to moonlight as a private investigator. Not only is this title garnering a lot of good advance press, but this gal is thinking 'Father's Day.' Oh yes, it's never too early, my friends. It's on my radar.

What good new releases did I miss?

New Releases for the Week of February 24, 2014

Yikes. I'm late getting these new releases posted this week and a great week it is for book releases. Wow. Check out some of the great stuff hitting bookstores this week....

House of Glass (Harlequin MIRA, February 25). A family is put to the test when their home is invaded and they are held hostage for 48 hours in their basement. How far will a mother go to protect her children? What can tragedy teach us about family bonds? Admittedly, I cannot wait to read this newest work by Littlefield. My library dropped the ball here and failed to order any copies (boo!) but the pre-order button on Amazon works just fine.

Bark (Knopf, Febuary 25). If you've read any 2014 Anticipated Books lists, you've seen this short story collection mentioned. Moore has been shortlisted for the Orange Prize and the PEN/Faulkner Award in years past and any work she publishes is always highly anticipated by critics and lay people alike. To be honest, she is new to me so I wasn't willing to run out and pre-purchase this one. I did, however, put a library hold on it (hey, at least my local library had the good sense to buy a few copies of this one even if they did drop the ball on the Littlefield novel).

Blood Royal (Little, Brown and Company, February 25). This non-fiction tale of murder and mayhem in 15th century Paris is gripping enough to be a novel. It's good enough to merit a full length book review so look for that to appear here this week. 

The Wives of Los Alamos (Bloomsbury USA, February 25). If the premise (and title) of a story focusing on the wives of the men who were playing a pivotal role in our country's history perhaps, like me, you are recalling the popular non-fiction title of 2013 The Astronaut Wives Club. I'm hoping Nesbit's work here fares better for me than the other title (I didn't care for The Astronaut Wives Club). I'm confident that will be the case because this work is fiction and Nesbit can tighten the narrative and provide better motivation, something non-fiction is often incapable of doing.

The Headmaster's Wife (Thomas Dunne Books, February 25). I'm a sucker for boarding school tales. Especially boarding schools located in New England. Especially boarding school tales set in New England that feature family madness. Why is that? I have no idea. But there you have it. And when Pulitzer Prize winner Richard Russo, one of my favorite authors, said he loved this book, I knew I had to read it. So yes, I bought it.

The Troop (Gallery Books, February 25). Admittedly, a good horror book that scares the pants off of you has it's place. And by all accounts, Cutter's novel about a Boy Scout troop that runs in to something very bad and very bio-engineered in the Canadian wilderness on a pack weekend outing is guaranteed to do just that. So I'm making sure my pants are belted on tight...and I'm going in.

Which new releases did I miss? Be sure to let me know if I didn't mention any favorites that you've been most looking forward to!

New Releases: January 27, 2014

It's the last week of January and a busy week for new releases. That could be good news or bad news depending on the size of your bedside stack o' books. I'm not telling how tall mine has grown, but I will say this week is not helping matters. Here's a look at a handful of the books hitting bookstores this week. Some I've read, some I plan to....

Big, big, big. That's about all there is to say about this first in a dystopian trilogy by Pierce Brown and published by Del Rey (January 28, 2014). Lots of pre-publishing chatter going on about this one and the reviews have been very good. I suspect it will appeal to fans of The Hunger Games and Ender's Game and since I fall in that category, I'm all about that - provided, that is, it doesn't prove to be a blatant knock-off. I've got a library hold on it so I don't feel robbed if it's a let down. I suspect it's going to be a huge winner though.

Jenny Offill's writing (Knopf, January 28, 2014) has been likened to Claire Messud's, but with style and class. This compelling story of a middle age wife and mother in the middle of a marital crisis and questioning her life choices is related in journal/random thoughts, making the format rather jarring and disjointed for some readers, searingly honest for others. While admittedly not my normal genre fare I found myself drawn into the mind and life of the narrator, both frustrated by her choices and devastatingly sympathetic to her plight in turn. Recommended, but only after you've read enough reviews to decide whether it suits your reading style. (My copy provided by the publishing house.)

Allende's latest novel hits the shelves this week and is sure to be a big seller (Harper, January 28, 2014). Ripper is about a very smart teenage girl whose mother goes missing prompting her to begin her own investigation into a string of murders in San Francisco. While I've never been a huge Allende fan in the past, this one caught my attention, at least enough for me to jot down the title with the intention of reading it in the near future. Maybe.

Let's be honest. Is there anyone out there who doesn't love Wiley Cash? Few authors capture the atmosphere of the South like Cash does in his dark thrillers and I have yet to find a negative review of his writing. His latest effort takes readers to western North Carolina and once again, he revives the theme of the broken family and redemption all wrapped in a thriller presentation. Exquisite. (William Morrow, January 28, 2013.) My copy provided by the publishing house.

Anna Quindlen fans are rejoicing at the release of her newest novel (Random House, January 28, 2014). And I am especially looking forward to this story of a woman whose career is waning and so she decides to leave the big city for the small town, making huge discoveries about life along the way. Quindlen has a knack for reminding readers of the important things in life and I always walk away from her novels feeling a bit richer. I pre-purchased this one!

Jane Sanderson's latest novel is a real treat for Downton Abby fans (William Morrow, January 28, 2014). Set in 1904 Yorkshire, Ravenscliffe is the story of a small English country town, it's nobility, it's commoners, it's trials, tribulations and more than anything how they all cope with the great changes they are faced with at the turn of the new century. Beautifully written and lovingly crafted, Sanderson is the equivalent to Downton Abby in print. My copy was provided by the publisher.

Should I quit while I'm ahead? Or should I also mention that one of my favorite novels from 2013 - Philipp Meyer's The Son - is being released this week in paperback?

Or that Carl Hiaasen has a new collection of hysterically funny columns being released this week? Okay, okay....I'll stop now....