Reading Ahead: October 2017, part 3

I have a little bit of everything for you in today's post. A thriller guaranteed to get your pulse pounding. A prequel to a much-beloved best-seller, awaited for more than two decades. And a series finale that likely won't leave a reader dry-eyed.

Killing Season, by Faye Kellerman. Kellerman takes a break from her bestselling Decker & Lazarus series (Bone Box, etc.) to thrill readers with a story of truth sought...and found. At sixteen, Ben is consumed with the need to find the person who abducted and strangled his older sister four years earlier. With an unlikely ally at his side, Ben pores over the files at the local police precinct, finding clues and threads which others may have missed or overlooked. What Ben hasn't counted on is the interest the killer might take in him, and now the hunter may become the hunted. Thriller readers who love an unconventional hero should consider adding this to their reading lists.

The Rules of Magic, by Alice Hoffman. Hoffman delights readers with a spellbinding prequel to her 1995 bestseller, Practical Magic. For the Owens family, love is a curse that goes back to 1620, when Maria Owens was charged with witchery for loving the wrong man. Hundreds of years later, their story continues in New York City at the brink of the 1960s, with the whole world about to change. For Susanna Owens, however, all she knows is that her three children, Franny, Jet, and Vincent, are each dangerously unique. To try and keep them safe, she insists that rules be followed, rules like no books about magic, no black cats, and most importantly, no falling in love. When the trio visits their Aunt Isabelle in Massachusetts, however, they uncover family secrets that causes each to reconsider who they are and what their lives will be. Back in New York, each will begin a journey to break their family's curse. This is at the top of my to-read list next month!

Winter Solstice, by Elin Hilderbrand. Hilderbrand gives readers one last chance to visit with the Quinn family on Nantucket as she rounds out her Winter quartet (following Winter Street, Winter Stroll, and Winter Storms). For the first time in years, all of the Quinn clan are able to gather for the holidays. There is plenty to be joyous about: Bart is safely back from Afghanistan, Pat has paid his debt to society, Ava seems to have found love at last. But with the Quinn clan, no holiday is without a bump or two, to be weathered together with love and humor. Fans won't want to miss out.