Reading Ahead: June 2015, part 2

Thrillers, suspense, even horror novels can make for some great beach reading. This summer has them out in force, so if you're planning ahead, here are some titles to add to your list.

The President’s Shadow, by Brad Meltzer. To most, it looks like Beecher White has an ordinary job. A young staffer with the National Archives in Washington, D.C., he's responsible for safekeeping the government's most important documents . . . and, sometimes, its most closely held secrets. But there are a powerful few who know his other role. Beecher is a member of the Culper Ring, a 200-year-old secret society founded by George Washington and charged with protecting the Presidency. Now the current occupant of the White House needs the Culper Ring's help. The alarming discovery of the buried arm has the President's team in a rightful panic. Who buried the arm? How did they get past White House security? And most important: What's the message hidden in the arm's closed fist?

The Fixer, by Joseph Finder. When former investigative reporter Rick Hoffman loses his job, fiancée, and apartment, his only option is to move back into — and renovate — the home of his miserable youth, now empty and in decay since the stroke that put his father in a nursing home. As Rick starts to pull apart the old house, he makes an electrifying discovery — millions of dollars hidden in the walls. It’s enough money to completely transform Rick’s life — and everything he thought he knew about his father.  Yet the more of his father’s hidden past that Rick brings to light, the more dangerous his present becomes. Soon, he finds himself on the run from deadly enemies desperate to keep the past buried, and only solving the mystery of his father — a man who has been unable to communicate, comprehend, or care for himself for almost 20 years — will save Rick... if he can survive long enough to do it.

Truth or Die, by James Patterson & Howard Roughan. After a serious professional stumble, attorney Trevor Mann may have finally hit his stride. He's found happiness with his girlfriend Claire Parker, a beautiful, ambitious journalist always on the hunt for a scoop. But when Claire's newest story leads to a violent confrontation, Trevor's newly peaceful life is shattered as he tries to find out why. What Trevor will learn is that the truth will set you free...if it doesn't kill you first. Also available in Large Print.

The Melody Lingers On, by Mary Higgins Clark. When Lane Harmon, sole assistant to a famous upscale interior designer, is called to assist in redecorating a modest townhouse in Bergen County, she knows the job is unusual. Then she learns the home belongs to the wife of a notorious and disgraced financier named Parker Bennett. Parker Bennett has been missing for two years. He dropped out of sight just before it was discovered that the $5 billion dollars in the fund he had been managing had vanished. Bennett had gone out on his sailboat in the Caribbean. Was it suicide or had he staged his disappearance? The scandal around his name has not died down. His clients and the federal government all want to trace the money and find Bennett if he is still alive. As Lane finds herself drawn into the family's story, she may also be in more danger than she ever imagined possible. Also available in Large Print.

Finders Keepers, by Stephen King. A vengeful reader, Morris Bellamy, tracks down iconic author John Rothstein, who hasn't written a book in decades. It ends badly for Rothstein, but Bellamy makes out with a safe-full of cash...and notebooks containing at least one more Rothstein novel. Bellamy hides his treasure only to be incarcerated for an unrelated crime. But when young Pete Saubers finds Bellamy's cache, he and his family need protection from the now-released and even more unhinged Bellamy. To the rescue? The unlikely heroes of King's Mr. Mercedes (which I loved, by the way): Bill Hodges, Holly Gibney, and Jerome Robinson. This is the second in what is slated as a trilogy featuring Bill Hodges, and this King fan couldn't be happier.

Reading Ahead: June 2015, part 1

I may have mentioned this before, but this summer's fiction release list is, quite frankly, out of control. There is just so much! Not to worry--I've got a list of the highlights ready for you, no matter what your preferences.  Here are some suspense and thriller titles to get you started.

Invasion of Privacy, by Christopher Reich. On a remote, dusty road forty miles outside of Austin, Texas, FBI agent Joe Grant and a confidential informant are killed in a deadly shootout. Left to pick up the pieces is Mary Grant, Joe's young wife and mother of their two daughters. The official report places blame for the deaths on Joe's shoulders . . . but the story just doesn't add up and Mary has too many troubling questions that need answers. How did Joe's final voice mail—containing a cryptic warning for Mary, recorded moments before the fatal shooting—disappear without a trace from her phone?         Stonewalled by the FBI, Mary will be drawn into a deadly conspiracy that puts her in the crosshairs of the richest and most powerful men in America . . . and the newest and most terrifying surveillance system known to man.

The Ultimatum, by Dick Wolf. Detective Jeremy Fisk tracks a serial sniper who has mastered state-of-the-art airborne technology to hunt his prey in this third thriller from the New York Times bestselling author and creator of the Law & Order franchise. When a leaker named Verlyn Merritt releases sensitive documents from the NYPD Intelligence Division to WikiLeaks, some of the deadliest criminals have access to Detective Jeremy Fisk’s unlisted home address. Within hours, three mysterious assailants arrive at his Sutton Place apartment. Who are they and why do they want Fisk dead?

Cash Landing, by James Grippando. Grippando's latest thriller blends Goodfellas and Elmore Leonard in this wild, suspenseful caper inspired by actual events, in which a band of amateur thieves pulls off one of the biggest airport heists in history with deadly consequences.

Tom Clancy Under Fire, by Grant Blackwood. On a routine intelligence gathering mission in Tehran, Jack Ryan, Jr., has lunch with his oldest friend, Seth Gregory, an engineer overseeing a transcontinental railway project. As they part, Seth slips Jack a key, along with a perplexing message. The next day Jack is summoned to an apartment where two men claim Seth has disappeared—gone to ground with funds for a vital intelligence operation.  Jack’s oldest friend has turned, they insist. They leave Jack with a warning:  If you hear from Seth Gregory, call us immediately. And do not get involved. But they don’t know Jack. He won’t abandon a friend in need. This is the second novel featuring Jack Ryan, Jr., following 2010's Dead or Alive , which Blackwood co-authored with Tom Clancy (1947-2013).

Robert Ludlum’s The Janson Equation, by Douglas Corleone. Prominent U.S. Senator James Wyckoff hires former government agents-turned-private security consultants Janson and Kincaid to locate his teenage son Gregory. Gregory's girlfriend Lynell has been found strangled in a Seoul hotel, and Gregory has fled the city to avoid being arrested for the crime. But Senator Wyckoff insists that his son is innocent, suggesting that Lynell, who was a translator, may have been murdered because of something she overheard at a recent international conference. And when Janson and Kincaid realize they're being hunted by an assassin, they suspect that this crime--and the cover-up--were orchestrated by a shadowy unit of the U.S. State Department as part of a larger plot to provoke violence between North and South Korea.

What I've Been Reading: April 2015

I've been reading a little bit of everything this month, from memoirs to dystopian fiction, and lots of good stuff! April started off with a bang, as I read David Vann's latest novel, Aquarium. I loved it so much, in fact, that I couldn't keep it to myself. You can read my full review here.

And then?

They Cage the Animals At Night, by Jennings Michael Burch. This was my book club's selection for our April meeting, and I have to admit, I dawdled with it until the eleventh hour this month, because the subject matter was hard for me. I know kids often read this in middle or high school, though I hadn't, and I'm still just sort of sad about it. Burch's mother attempted to raise him and his five brothers on her own after his father walked out on them, but suffered from several nervous collapses and while recuperating, the boys were split off--some farmed out to other families, others (Jennings included) often wound up in orphanages. The memoir follows Burch's experiences through several of the homes during his childhood, the good and bad, which I found deeply moving. I'm glad I read it, but it was not an easy read for me.

The Country of Ice Cream Star, by Sandra Newman. Longlisted for the Folio Prize as well as the Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction (alongside Emily St. John Mandel's Station Eleven, which I coincidentally also read this month, reviewed below), The Country of Ice Cream Star is one of the most unique and challenging books I've read in some time. And perhaps the challenge was its uniqueness. It required me to read for general information and feel instead of for detail, because the language (a lexicon established by short generations of children altering the language over eighty years since the collapse of civilization) is so different. But brilliant. Ice Cream Star and her tribe live in an exotically feral Massachusetts, in a world where no one lives past age 21, and the hints of a cure to the ailment of "posies" are only rumor until Ice Cream's older brother, only 18, becomes ill. Ice Cream, with the help of a stranger, leads her tribe of Sengles on a desperate journey in hope of saving her brother's life. This is unlike anything I've ever read, and I highly recommend it to those who aren't afraid of a challenge.

The Art of Hearing Heartbeats, by Jan-Philipp Sendker. This was another book club selection, this time for May's meeting. I figured this time I would make sure to read it early! When Julia's father, a successful New York lawyer, disappears without a trace, neither Julia nor her mother have a clue as to what happened, until they find an old love letter he wrote to a woman in his native Burma. Determined to find out why her father has abandoned them, Julia heads to Burma seeking answers, only to find a whole history of her father that she never knew existed. A beautiful love story, and one I look forward to discussing with my group.

Station Eleven, by Emily St. John Mandel. This is one of the best novels I've read so far this year (right up there with Aquarium, though very different). Admittedly, I listened to the audiobook, which was also incredible. This is my introduction to St. John Mandel, and I can't wait to go back and read her other work now. It's a National Book Award Finalist and was also nominated for the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, the Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction , AND the Arthur C. Clarke Award. Oh, and it's being adapted for film. Now, about the story itself. It begins on the cusp of the end of civilization as we know it, and the story follows several characters back and forth through time, between the years before the collapse and then twenty years after the collapse. It is suspenseful and told with a keen eye for detail, full of a terrible beauty while exploring themes of art, fame, and memory. I strongly recommend it, and I know I'll be rereading this in years to come. It's too good not to come back to.

The Thunder of Giants, by Joel Fishbane.  The year is 1937 and Andorra Kelsey - 7'11 and just over 320 pounds - is on her way to Hollywood to become a star. Hoping to escape both poverty and the ghost of her dead husband, she accepts an offer from the wily Rutherford Simone to star in a movie about the life of Anna Swan, the Nova Scotia giantess who toured the world in the 19th . Told in parallel, Anna Swan's story unfurls. While Andorra is seen as a disgrace by an embarrassed family, Anna Swan is quickly celebrated for her unique size. Drawn to New York, Anna becomes a famed attraction at P.T. Barnum's American Museum even as she falls in love with Gavin Clarke, a veteran of the Civil War. Quickly disenchanted with a life of fame, Anna struggles to prove to Gavin - and the world - that she is more than the sum of her measurements. This was inspiring and perfectly balanced. Often, books which are told in parallel stories tend to be stronger in one story-line and weaker in another, but this was not the case. Highly recommended for fans of historical fiction. This could also be a great pick for book clubs.

Summer 2015 preview

I've been ordering fiction and mystery titles for this summer since before last Christmas, and let me tell you, that's a really long time to hold back from sharing with my fellow readers! That said, I've now given myself an enough tougher choice: what to share with you in this preview. I'm going with those titles that I am personally most excited about, so your mileage may vary.



June

Second Life, by S.J. Watson. Watson's first novel, 2011's psychological thriller Before I Go To Sleep, was an international bestseller and award winner. Fans, myself included, have been waiting rather impatiently for more from this gifted author, and will finally be rewarded just in time for summer. Second Life follows a woman who, as she investigates the circumstances surrounding her sister's violent murder, finds herself caught up in a dangerous game with a stranger online that may cause her to lose everything she holds dear. A novel of the dark secrets people keep, Second Life is already a bestseller in the UK. It's already on my list of must-reads this summer.


July

Circling the Sun, by Paula McLain. If you didn't read McLain's novel, The Paris Wife, a fictionalized account of Ernest Hemingway's first marriage, then you are absolutely missing out. The good news is that you have time to go back and read that while waiting for her new book, Circling the Sun, to be released at the end of July. Set in 1920's colonial Kenya, this new novel focuses on another strong female character, Beryl Markham, a record-setting aviator caught up in a passionate love triangle with safari hunter Denys Finch Hatton and Karen Blixen, author of the classic memoir Out of Africa. The novel is getting lots of advance praise, including love from fellow authors like Jodi Picoult and JoJo Moyes. I'm expecting this to be a hit not just with readers of historical fiction, but also with book clubs. Don't say I didn't warn you.


August

We Never Asked for Wings, by Vanessa Diffenbaugh. Diffenbaugh is the author of the 2011 bestselling novel The Language of Flowers, which has been a particular favorite of book clubs for the last few years. For fourteen years, Letty Espinosa has worked three jobs around San Francisco to make ends meet while her mother raised her children. But now Letty’s parents are returning to Mexico, and Letty must step up and become a mother for the first time in her life. Being billed as a novel of hope and hard choices, this new novel is sure to be a reader favorite.



I'll be back on Thursday to share what I've been reading this month. In the meantime, happy reading!

Meg's Picks: May 2015, part 2

I have something for everyone to look forward to this May, whether you're an old-school horror fan, a lover of historical fiction, or on the lookout for the next great new author. (And a little secret? I have SO MUCH to share for June already, I'm not sure I can wait until next month to start sharing! If you want a little sneak preview of some of the fabulous new summer reads, come on back next Tuesday and I'll have a few things to share.) Now, on with today's post!

The Scarlet Gospels, by Clive Barker. The Scarlet Gospels takes readers back many years to the early days of two of Barker's most iconic characters in a battle of good and evil as old as time: The long-beleaguered detective Harry D'Amour, investigator of all supernatural, magical, and malevolent crimes faces off against his formidable, and intensely evil rival, Pinhead, the priest of hell. Barker devotees have been waiting for The Scarlet Gospels with bated breath for years, and it's everything they've begged for and more. Bloody, terrifying, and brilliantly complex, fans and newcomers alike will not be disappointed by the epic, visionary tale that is The Scarlet Gospels. Barker's horror will make your worst nightmares seem like bedtime stories.

Love is Red, by Sophie Jaff. Fans of Deborah Harkness's A Discovery of Witches and Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series, please pay attention, because Jaff's debut is right up your alley. First in a trilogy, book one introduces readers to Katherine Emerson, a woman born to fulfill a dark prophecy centuries in the making, but she doesn't know it yet. However, one man does: a killer stalking the women of New York City, a monster the media dubs the "Sickle Man" because of the weapon he uses to turn his victims' bodies into canvases for his twisted art. He takes more than just his victims' lives, and each death brings him closer to the one woman he must possess at any cost. Amid the city's escalating hysteria, Katherine is trying to unknot her tangled heart, as two very different men have entered her previously uneventful world and turned it upside down. She finds herself involved in a complicated triangle . . . but how well does she really know either of them?

Told from the alternating viewpoints of Katherine and the Sickle Man, Sophie Jaff's intoxicating narrative will pull you in and hold you close. As the body count rises, Katherine is haunted by harrowing visions that force her to question her sanity. All she wants is to find love. He just wants to find her. This is getting a lot of advance critical praise, so don't be surprised if you hear more about this as the summer goes on.

A God in Ruins, by Kate Atkinson & Brent K. Ashabranner. Atkinson's gorgeously unique 2013 novel, Life After Life, made a huge impact with readers. Now she's returned with a second installment about the Todd family, billed as a companion novel instead of a sequel, which tells the dramatic story of the 20th Century through Ursula's beloved younger brother Teddy--would-be poet, heroic pilot, husband, father, and grandfather-as he navigates the perils and progress of a rapidly changing world. After all that Teddy endures in battle, his greatest challenge is living in a future he never expected to have. Critics are using words like "heartbreaking," "sublime," and "gorgeous." If it's anything like Life After Life, I can strongly recommend this, even having not yet read it.

Church of Marvels, by Leslie Parry. A ravishing first novel, set in vibrant, tumultuous turn-of-the-century New York City, where the lives of four outsiders become entwined, bringing irrevocable change to them all. As these strangers’ lives become increasingly connected, their stories and secrets unfold. Moving from the Coney Island seashore to the tenement-studded streets of the Lower East Side, a spectacular human circus to a brutal, terrifying asylum, Church of Marvels takes readers back to turn-of-the-century New York—a city of hardship and dreams, love and loneliness, hope and danger. In magnetic, luminous prose, Leslie Parry offers a richly atmospheric vision of the past in a narrative of astonishing beauty, full of wondrous enchantments, a marvelous debut that will leave readers breathless. I'm recommending this particularly to readers who enjoyed books like Alice Hoffman's The Museum of Extraordinary Things.

The Gospel of Loki, by Joanne Harris. Harris, author of the incredibly popular Chocolat, among other works, has returned to readers with something completely different. This novel is a brilliant first-person narrative of the rise and fall of the Norse gods—retold from the point of view of the world’s ultimate trickster, Loki. A #1 bestseller in the UK, The Gospel of Loki tells the story of Loki’s recruitment from the underworld of Chaos, his many exploits on behalf of his one-eyed master, Odin, through to his eventual betrayal of the gods and the fall of Asgard itself. 

While this may seem to be a reach for Harris, she admits to a lifelong passion for Norse myths. Coupled with the current pop-culture demand for all things Norse, including movies like The Avengers (with a sequel coming to theaters in mid-May) and Thor (and its sequel, Thor: The Dark World), as well as obvious comparisons to authors like Neil Gaiman (particularly American Gods, which is one of my all-time favorite novels. Ever.) and really, I think readers will flock to this. I'm counting myself among them.

Meg's Picks: May 2015, part 1

I have to confess: sometimes it's really difficult for me to wait so long to share what I'm looking forward to reading. In many cases, I'm ordering new fiction six months in advance. Which means I'm already ordering holiday books, folks. I know. And I'm sorry.

However, what this also means is that by the time the books are finally about to be published, I've got all my ducks in a row, ready to share with you! Ready?

I Take You, by Eliza Kennedy. Kennedy's debut is being heralded as one of the funniest, most clever debut novels since Bridget Jones's Diary, and those are some significant stilettos to fill. I'm going to tell you right now: this will be one of the must-have beach-reads this summer. Lily Wilder has everything. A New York lawyer and bride-to-be, she has a family full of charismatic and loving women, and a total catch of a fiancé. Also? She has no business getting married. Lily’s fiancé Will is a brilliant, handsome archaeologist. Lily is sassy, impulsive, fond of a good drink (or five) and completely incapable of being faithful to just one man.  As the wedding approaches, Lily’s nights—and mornings, and afternoons—of booze, laughter and questionable decisions become a growing reminder that the happiest day of her life might turn out to be her worst mistake yet.

Early Warning, by Jane Smiley. For readers who want something engrossing and entertaining, but more family saga than all-out-drama, Smiley's new novel (continuing the story begun in 2014's very popular Some Luck) may be just what you're looking for. Early Warning opens in 1953 with the Langdon family at a crossroads. Their stalwart patriarch, Walter, who with his wife, Rosanna, sustained their farm for three decades, has suddenly died, leaving their five children, now adults, looking to the future. Only one will remain in Iowa to work the land, while the others scatter to Washington, D.C., California, and everywhere in between. As the country moves out of post–World War II optimism through the darker landscape of the Cold War and the social and sexual revolutions of the 1960s and ’70s, and then into the unprecedented wealth—for some—of the early 1980s, the Langdon children each follow a different path in a rapidly changing world. If you're adrift in between installments of Jeffrey Archer's family saga The Clifton Chronicles, consider these to help you through.

The Ice Twins, by S.K. Tremayne. Early reviews for this have mentioned both Gillian Flynn (Gone Girl) and Paula Hawkins (The Girl on the Train) for comparisons, so that should give you some idea about both the plot and the anticipated popularity. A year after one of their identical twin daughters, Lydia, dies in an accident, Angus and Sarah Moorcroft move to the tiny Scottish island Angus inherited from his grandmother, hoping to put together the pieces of their shattered lives. But when their surviving daughter, Kirstie, claims they have mistaken her identity--that she, in fact, is Lydia--their world comes crashing down once again. As winter encroaches, Angus is forced to travel away from the island for work, Sarah is feeling isolated, and Kirstie (or is it Lydia?) is growing more disturbed. When a violent storm leaves Sarah and her daughter stranded, they are forced to confront what really happened on that fateful day.

Disclaimer, by Renee Knight. A psychological thriller, already an international bestseller, finally comes to the States. Finding a mysterious novel at her bedside plunges documentary filmmaker Catherine Ravenscroft into a living nightmare. Though ostensibly fiction, The Perfect Stranger recreates in vivid, unmistakable detail the terrible day she became hostage to a dark secret, a secret that only one other person knew—and that person is dead. Now that the past is catching up with her, Catherine’s world is falling apart. Her only hope is to confront what really happened on that awful day . . . even if the shocking truth might destroy her. Thriller readers have a lot to look forward to this summer!

Reading Ahead: May 2015, part 4

Beach reads are usually defined as any book (usually fiction) which is engaging and a quick enough read that you can finish most of it before your sunscreen wears off. Beach reading isn't necessarily literature, but it will entertain. With the days getting longer and the temperatures warming up, I don't think it's too soon to start planning my list of beach reads, and the publishers definitely feel the same way! Here are a few on the lighter, fluffier side to consider for your beach reading pleasure this summer.

Double Down, by Fern Michaels. Three connected novellas, The Men of the Sisterhood, are now in print together for the first time, prominently featuring the male characters from Michaels's bestselling Sisterhood series. After years of standing by their women, the Sisterhood’s significant others have also become loyal friends. And now Jack Emery, Nikki’s husband, has enlisted Ted, Joe, Jay, Bert, Dennis, and Abner to form a top-secret organization known as BOLO Consultants. Jack has two missions in mind. The first: offering some behind-the-scenes help to Nikki’s law firm as they take on the all-powerful Andover Pharmaceuticals. Andover’s anti-leukemia drug causes terrible side effects in young patients, but a class-action suit seems doomed to fail. BOLO Consultants have a prescription to cure that. Meanwhile, Virginia’s lieutenant governor has a sideline as a slum landlord, and his impoverished tenants are suffering. But when the Sisterhood and their allies decide to get involved, no one is beyond the reach of true justice… Each novella can easily be finished in an afternoon--perfect beach reading.

Beach Town, by Mary Kay Andrews. Greer Hennessy is a struggling movie location scout. Her last location shoot ended in disaster when a film crew destroyed property on an avocado grove. And Greer ended up with the blame. Now Greer has been given one more chance--a shot at finding the perfect undiscovered beach town for a big budget movie. She zeroes in on a sleepy Florida panhandle town. There's one motel, a marina, a long stretch of pristine beach and an old fishing pier with a community casino--which will be perfect for the film's climax--when the bad guys blow it up in an all-out assault on the townspeople. The only thing standing in her way is the town's environmentally-conscious mayor. What could possibly go wrong? Andrews is known for witty dialogue and charming characters, making this a great choice for easy reading this summer.

The Guest Cottage, by Nancy Thayer. Best-laid plans run awry when sensible single-mom Sophie and grieving widower Trevor realize they’ve mistakenly rented the same Nantucket beach house. Still, determined to make this a summer their kids will always remember, the two agree to share the house. But as the summer unfolds and the families grow close, Sophie and Trevor must ask themselves if the guest cottage is all they want to share. Nothing like a heart-warming romance, and Thayer is known for them.

I'm back next week with some special picks for May fiction titles. Happy reading!