Meg's Picks: January 2019, part 2

What's on my must-read list this winter? Read on to find out!

Freefall, by Jessica Barry. In Maine, Maggie Carpenter receives news that her daughter, Allison, is presumed dead following the crash of a private plane in the Colorado Rockies, though Allison's body has not yet been recovered. The deceased pilot has been identified as Allison's fiance, a pharmaceutical company CEO. After two years estrangement from her daughter, Maggie didn't even know that Allison was engaged, and as she begins to dig into the last two years of her daughter's life, Maggie discovers that she barely knew her daughter anymore, least of all why Allison might want the authorities to believe she died in the crash...

The Dreamers, by Karen Thompson Walker. I was a huge fan of Walker's 2012 debut, The Age of Miracles, and her new novel is already creating a lot of pre-publication buzz, so this is right at the top of my January reading list. It all starts in on the campus of a small California college, where a student falls asleep and cannot be awakened. Then another, and another, the sleeping sickness (which occasionally ends in death) spreading across campus and the nearby town, which are quickly quarantined. Cue students inside the quarantine zone planning their escapes, others volunteering to care for their stricken friends as the number of infected continue to climb. Shifting seamlessly among multiple characters, Walker has written what early reviews are calling a "provocative, hypnotic" and "skillful" novel. I can't wait.

The Accidental Further Adventures of the Hundred-Year-Old Man, by Jonas Jonasson. In this sequel to Jonasson's best-selling The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared (2012), centenarian Allan Karlsson and his sidekick, petty thief Julius Jonasson, are back and as uproariously funny as ever as they fly in a hot air balloon well-stocked with champagne, only to crash land into the sea. Then they're rescued by a North Korean ship carrying contraband uranium, and things really start to get interesting!

Happy Holidays and Happy Reading! I'll be back with my 2018 wrap-up next week!

Reading Ahead: November 2018, part 2

Publishers have been saving some real winners for next month--new titles by some of our patrons' favorite authors, guaranteed to please!

Heads You Win, by Jeffrey Archer. After his father is assassinated by the KGB in 1968, teenager Alexander Karpenko flips a coin to decide where he and his mother should immigrate: New York or London. What follows is both versions of what might have happened depending on that flip. Sort of a Sliding Doors meets coming-of-age tale, resulting in a fun and fast-paced novel. Also available in Large Print.

Nine Perfect Strangers, by Liane Moriarty. Can ten days at a health resort really change your life? Nine strangers are about to find out. Some have come to the remote Tranquillium House to lose weight, others to reboot their lives after personal and/or professional setbacks. For a former best-selling romance novelist, the character that most intrigues her is the charismatic and eccentric owner and director of the resort. What she and the other guests will be asking before their stay is over is: should they surrender to the process or should they run while they still can? This latest by Moriarty (Big Little Lies, etc.) is perfect for readers seeking a wickedly smart page-turner.

Tony's Wife, by Adriana Trigiani. It's the 1940s and Chi Chi Donatelli and Saverio Armandonada fall in love over the course of one perfect summer at the Jersey Shore. Both dream of singing with greats like Glenn Miller and Benny Goodman, but after they marry, the question arises: which of them will put aside their dreams in order to raise a family? Trigiani is a huge reader sweetheart with past favorites like The Shoemaker's Wife and Lucia, Lucia--I highly recommend placing your request now!

Reading Ahead: April 2018, part 1

Spring is upon us, and that means the leading edge of "summer reads" are also here! Thrillers are a favorite regardless of the season, and we have some new titles by perennial favorites to offer!

The Fallen, by David Baldacci. This most recent entry in Baldacci's Amos Decker/Memory Man series (following 2017's The Fix) finds Decker, the man who cannot forget the smallest detail, in the small rust-belt town of Baronville, where a series of bizarre murders has police stumped. When yet another murder hits very close to home for Decker, he realizes that the scope of this spree may extend well beyond Baronville, and that he, with his unique talent, may be the only one who can put an end to them. Also available in Large Print. 

The Cutting Edge, by Jeffery Deaver. For Deaver fans who have been pining for a new Lincoln Rhyme novel, pine no longer! Lincoln and Amelia have returned to New York, quickly taking a case of a brutal triple murder in Manhattan's Diamond District. The murder scene is a jewelry store on 47th Street, but the killer left behind more than a half-million dollars worth of gems. As more crimes follow, it appears that the killer's target is not gems, but engaged couples themselves, determined to turn a moment of pure joy into one of horror. His one mistake, leaving a witness alive, may be what cracks the case, but it may spell disaster before he can be stopped. Also available in Large Print.

The First Family, by Michael Palmer & Daniel Palmer. In a novel that returns to the setting of Palmer's The First Patient (2008), the president and his family are relentlessly scrutinized, by the public, the media, and security staff. When his sixteen-year-old chess champion son begins experiencing fatigue, moodiness and uncharacteristic outbursts, it is passed off as stress and teen angst. But a secret service agent, tasked with the family's well-being, calls in her ex-husband, a physician, for a second opinion. The boy's symptoms are baffling, his health deteriorating, and stranger still, he shares the same symptoms as another teen, this one a musical prodigy. Time is of the essence as they struggle to diagnose the mysterious illness, only to find betrayals that breach the highest levels of national security.

Reading Ahead: October 2017, part 1

I realize it may feel a bit early to start thinking about October, but not when you're looking forward to great new titles from your favorite authors!

Origin, by Dan Brown. Readers rejoin Brown's unlikely hero, Harvard professor of symbology and religious iconography Robert Langdon, as he attends a meticulously choreographed evening at the ultramodern Guggenheim Museum Bilbao where a former student and current billionaire futurist Edmond Kirsch is presenting a breakthrough concerning human origin. The order descends into chaos, however, putting Kirsch's discovery and Langdon's very life at risk. Langdon and an associate flee to Barcelona, where they begin the momentous task of unraveling Kirsch's secret before Kirsch is silenced by his enemies. Also available in Large Print.

Two Kinds of Truth, by Michael Connelly. Connelly's Harry Bosch series continues to win more and more fans with each new entry. In his latest, Bosch is back as a volunteer working cold cases for the San Fernando Police Department. When he's called out to the scene of a young pharmacist's murder, he and the department's 3-person detective squad sift through the evidence, quickly finding themselves in over their heads in the big business world of pill mills and prescription drug abuse. To make matters worse, a case from Bosch's troubled past with the LAPD comes back to haunt him, too. Also available in Large Print.

The Rooster Bar, by John Grisham. Three friends came to law school to make the world a better place. But now, in their third year, they realize that they've been duped. They all have significant student loans but they've learned that their school is on the mediocre side: the graduates rarely pass the bar exam, let alone get good jobs. And when they discover that their school is one of a chain owned by a shady New York hedge-fund operator (who happens to own a bank that specializes in student loans), the three realize that they've been caught up in The Great Law School Scam. But is there a way out? Can they expose the scam and escape their crippling debt? This should be quite a page-turner.

Meg's Picks for March 2017, part 2

Need a thriller a little off the beaten path to keep you company on a rainy spring weekend? Or some cutting-edge suspense? Never you fear, I have just what you need. Read on!



A Twist of the Knife, by Becky Masterman. I'm a big fan of Masterman's Brigid Quinn series, which started with 2013's Rage Against the Dying, so this is at the top of my To-Read list this spring. Ex-FBI agent Brigid Quinn, now happily settled in Tucson, doesn’t visit her family in Florida much. But her former partner on the force, Laura Coleman―a woman whose life she has saved and who has saved her life in turn―is living there now. So when Laura calls about a case that is not going well, Brigid doesn’t hesitate to get on a plane.

On leave from the Bureau, Laura has been volunteering for a legal group trying to prove the innocence of a man who is on death row for killing his family. Laura is firmly convinced that he didn’t do it, while Brigid isn’t so sure―but the date for his execution is coming up so quickly that they’ll have to act fast to find any evidence that may absolve him before it’s too late…

A Simple Favor, by Darcey Bell. Bell's debut is a domestic thriller being likened to hugely popular titles in the genre like Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train. I'm expecting this to be one of the big reads of 2017, so get your requests in now!It starts with a simple favor—an ordinary kindness mothers do for one another. When her best friend, Emily, asks Stephanie to pick up her son Nicky after school, she happily says yes. Nicky and her son, Miles, are classmates and best friends, and the five-year-olds love being together—just like she and Emily. A widow and stay-at-home mommy blogger living in woodsy suburban Connecticut, Stephanie was lonely until she met Emily, a sophisticated PR executive whose job in Manhattan demands so much of her time.

But Emily doesn’t come back. She doesn’t answer calls or return texts. Stephanie knows something is terribly wrong—Emily would never leave Nicky, no matter what the police say. Terrified, she reaches out to her blog readers for help. She also reaches out to Emily’s husband, the handsome, reticent Sean, offering emotional support. It’s the least she can do for her best friend. Then, she and Sean receive shocking news. Emily is dead. The nightmare of her disappearance is over. Or is it?
If you're a fan of thrillers that twist at every turn, this should make your list for sure.

Celine, by Peter Heller. Heller is the bestselling author of novels like The Dog Stars and The Painter, and his latest is a deeply personal novel based on the adventures of his own remarkable mother. Celine follows an aristocratic, elegant private eye who specializes in reuniting families, in an attempt to make amends for a loss in her own past. Celine, in fact, has a better record in her field than the FBI. But when a young woman, Gabriela, asks for her help, a world of mystery and sorrow opens up. Gabriela's father was a photographer who went missing on the border of Montana and Wyoming. He was assumed to have died from a grizzly mauling, but his body was never found. Now, as Celine and her partner head to Yellowstone National Park, investigating a trail gone cold, it becomes clear that they are being followed--that this is a case someone desperately wants to keep closed. If you're looking for something engrossing but different than your usual fare, this is the one to pick up.

Reading Ahead: December 2015, part 2

Thrillers and suspense novels have no season--they're perfect year-round. Here are a few new titles to help you through the holidays.

After She’s Gone, by Lisa Jackson. Cassie Kramer and her younger sister, Allie, learned the hazards of fame long ago. Together, they’d survived the horror of a crazed fan who nearly killed their mother, former Hollywood actress Jenna Hughes. Still, Cassie moved to L.A., urging Allie to follow. As a team, they’d take the town by storm. But Allie, finally free of small-town Oregon, and just that little bit more beautiful, also proved to be more talented—and driven. Where Cassie got bit parts, Allie rose to stardom. But now her body double has been shot on the set of her latest movie—and Allie is missing. Police discover that the last call to Allie’s phone came from Cassie, though she has no recollection of making it. Instead of looking like a concerned relative, Cassie is starting to look like a suspect. Jackson's work is very popular--if you like Lisa Gardner, Karin Slaughter, or Chevy Stevens, giver her a try.

The Relic Master, by Christopher Buckley. If you're unfamiliar with Buckley's work (Little Green Men, Boomsday), you are really missing out. His is a unique blend of intrigue and humor guaranteed to entertain; Tom Wolfe calls him "one of the funniest writers in the English language." Fans of authors like Christopher Moore, Carl Hiaasen, and Tim Dorsey should take note. This, his latest, is a compelling and hilarious adventure featuring a sixteenth-century relic hunter and his best friend, Albrecht Dürer, who conspire to forge the Shroud of Turin. If the holidays have got you feeling a little blue, this just might be the antidote!

Forty Thieves, by Thomas Perry. Perry, bestselling author of the Jane Whitefield series (most recently A String of Beads, 2014), returns here with a lethally paced standalone novel. Sid and Ronnie Abel are a first-rate husband-and-wife detective team, both retirees of the LAPD. Ed and Nicole Hoyt are married assassins-for-hire living in the San Fernando Valley. Except for deadly aim with a handgun, the two couples have little in common—until they are both hired to do damage control on the same murder case.

Reading Ahead: November 2015, part 1

November? Already? Well, why not?

Shall we?

Let's.

The Guilty, by David Baldacci. Will Robie is the government's most professional, disciplined, and lethal assassin. He infiltrates the most hostile countries in the world, defeats our enemies' advanced security measures, and eliminates threats before they ever reach our shores. But now, his skills have left him. Sent overseas on a critical assignment, he fails, unable to pull the trigger. Absent his talents, Robie is a man without a mission, and without a purpose. To recover what he has lost, Robie must confront what he has tried to forget for over twenty years: his own past.

The Crossing, by Michael Connelly. Detective Harry Bosch has retired from the LAPD, but his half-brother, defense attorney Mickey Haller, needs his help. A woman has been brutally murdered in her bed and all evidence points to Haller's client, a former gang member turned family man. Though the murder rap seems ironclad, Mickey is sure it's a setup. Bosch doesn't want anything to do with crossing the aisle to work for the defense. He feels it will undo all the good he's done in his thirty years as a homicide cop. But Mickey promises to let the chips fall where they may. If Harry proves that his client did it, under the rules of discovery, they are obliged to turn over the evidence to the prosecution.

Crimson Shore, by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. A seemingly straightforward private case turns out to be much more complicated-and sinister-than Special Agent A.X.L. Pendergast ever could have anticipated.
Pendergast, together with his ward Constance Greene, travels to the quaint seaside village of Exmouth, Massachusetts, to investigate the theft of a priceless wine collection. But inside the wine cellar, they find something considerably more disturbing: a bricked-up niche that once held a crumbling skeleton.
Pendergast and Constance soon learn that Exmouth is a town with a very dark and troubled history, and this skeleton may be only the first hint of an ancient transgression, kept secret all these years. But they will discover that the sins of the past are still very much alive. Local legend holds that during the 1692 witch trials in Salem, the real witches escaped, fleeing north to Exmouth and settling deep in the surrounding salt marshes, where they continued to practice their wicked arts...