Meg's Picks: May 2016, part 1

I hope you're ready to set up your summer reading lists a little early, because there are a TON of amazing titles being released next month.  Sure, there are the regulars on the best-sellers lists that I've posted in Reading Ahead, but then there are the special things that I feel the need to highlight, because I'd hate for you to miss out on them. Like these:

I Let You Go, by Clare McKintosh. Billed as the next blockbuster thriller, after such sleeper hits as Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train, McKintosh's I Let You Go follows Jenna Gray as she moves to a ramshackle cottage on the remote Welsh coast, trying to escape the memory of the car accident that plays again and again in her mind and desperate to heal from the loss of her child and the rest of her painful past. At the same time, the novel tracks the pair of Bristol police investigators trying to get to the bottom of this hit-and-run. As they chase down one hopeless lead after another, they find themselves as drawn to each other as they are to the frustrating, twist-filled case before them. If you were going to pick up just one new book next month, I'd pick this one.

 

A Game for all the Family, by Sophie Hannah. Hannah treats readers to a stand-alone novel (her Spilling CID series starts with Little Face, if you're curious). Justine has left her old life behind her, seeking a fresh start with her daughter. But her daughter almost immediately begins to withdraw after a misunderstanding at school leads to her new friend's expulsion. When Justine asks the principal to reconsider, she's informed that the student in question doesn't exist. Now she must determine who is lying, even as a mysterious outsider begins to play an ominous game with Justine's very life. Hannah has been steadily gaining popularity with readers--this might be a great opportunity to try her work for yourself.

The City of Mirrors, by Justin Cronin. If you, like me, have followed The Passage and faced The Twelve, then you have been waiting with barely contained eagerness to explore The City of Mirrors, the final installment in The Passage trilogy. The Twelve have been destroyed and the terrifying hundred-year reign of darkness that descended upon the world has ended. The survivors are stepping outside their walls, determined to build society anew—and daring to dream of a hopeful future. But far from them, in a dead metropolis, he waits: Zero. The First. Father of the Twelve. The anguish that shattered his human life haunts him, and the hatred spawned by his transformation burns bright. His fury will be quenched only when he destroys Amy—humanity’s only hope, the Girl from Nowhere who grew up to rise against him. One last time light and dark will clash, and at last Amy and her friends will know their fate. I have been waiting something like six years for this--I'm looking forward to re-reading the first two books before delving into this finale.

Fellside, by M.R. Carey. In one of those instances where a book's publication date was moved up instead of back, Fellside is actually available now, having been released two weeks ago. Oops! That said, I wanted to make sure to share its publication with my fellow readers, especially those who liked Carey's The Girl With All The Gifts, which I read recently and loved--Carey has a special knack for making you question whether or not the monsters are actually what one should be frightened of. Here, Fellside is a maximum security prison on the edge of the Yorkshire Moors. It's not the kind of place you'd want to end up. But it's where Jess Moulson could be spending the rest of her life, a place where even the walls whisper. And one voice belongs to a little boy with a message for Jess. If you're like me and enjoy a read that gives you a creeps, this would be one to try. (Note: The link above for The Girl With All The Gifts is actually to the audiobook version, as we wait to receive replacement copies of the hardcover edition.)

The Fireman, by Joe Hill. Joe Hill has horror in his blood (his full name is Joseph Hillstrom King, and he's the son of Stephen King) and has proven his mettle with darkly brilliant novels like Horns (so SO good!) and NOS4A2. So readers who prefer their summer reads scary and full of suspense will want to check out his newest novel, The Fireman. A worldwide pandemic of spontaneous combustion threatens to reduce civilization to ashes and a band of improbable heroes battle to save it, led by one powerful and enigmatic man known as the Fireman. 

I'll be back on Thursday with more (and perhaps lighter) reads slated for May release that you just won't want to miss. In the meantime, happy reading!