Blog Post
Fabulous Fiction Firsts #611 Spotlight on Psychological Thrillers
by muffy
An August pick on Indie Next and LibraryReads lists, and a runaway UK debut bestseller, Behind Closed Doors * by B.A. Paris is one of the most terrifying psychological thriller you are likely to come across.
London attorney Jack Angel - movie-star-handsome and successful, sweeps Grace Harrington off her feet when he offers to dance with Millie, Grace's Down-syndrome younger sister under her care. The first sign that things are not what they seem to be is when Millie tumbles down a flight of stairs on their wedding day. On their honeymoon, Jack made clear his psychopathic plans, using Millie as leverage to ensure Grace's cooperation.
"Debut-novelist Paris adroitly toggles between the recent past and the present in building the suspense of Grace’s increasingly unbearable situation, as time becomes critical and her possible solutions narrow. This is one readers won’t be able to put down." (Booklist)
All the Missing Girls * , the first adult title by YA author Megan Miranda, is about the disappearances of two young women a decade apart. It has been 10 years since Nic(olette) Farrell left Cooley Ridge after her best friend, Corinne Prescott, disappeared without a trace. Now a cryptic note from her dementia-ravaged father brings her home. Within days of her arrival, her young neighbor Annaleise Carter disappears, reawakening the decade-old investigation that focused on Nic, her brother Daniel, boyfriend Tyler, and Corinne's boyfriend Jackson.
Told backwards from Day 15 to Day 1 since Annaleise's disappearance, Nic works to unravel the shocking truth about her friends, her family, and ultimately, herself. "Miranda convincingly conjures a haunted setting that serves as a character in its own right, but what really makes this roller-coaster so memorable is her inspired use of reverse chronology, so that each chapter steps further back in time, dramatically shifting the reader’s perspective." (Publishers Weekly)
The Trap by East German debut novelist Melanie Raabe is a fast, twisty read.
Reclusive novelist Linda Conrads hasn't left her home since she discovered her sister's body 11 years earlier. When she sees the face of the murderer on television, the same face that she saw leaving the crime scene, she goes about setting a trap by crafting her next thriller utilizing all the details of her sister's murder. But her careful plan goes horribly awry.
Film rights sold to TriStar Pictures.
* = starred review
Blog Post
Fabulous Fiction Firsts #606, Capitol Crimes
by muffy
The Second Girl * * by former D.C. police detective David Swinson is "an auspicious, and gleefully amoral, series debut" (Kirkus Reviews), featuring retired DC cop Frank Marr - damaged, damned, and an unrepentant drug addict who works sporadically as a private investigator for defense attorney (and occasional bed-mate) Leslie Costello.
When Frank breaks into a drug den to replenish his personal stash, he discovers a teenage girl doped up and chained to the bathroom. Rather than calling the authority and trying to explain his involvement, he hands her off to Leslie, but not before he manages to draw out all the details of her kidnapping. As the news of Amanda Meyer's return to her family, another suburban family with a missing girl hires him to find her, and Frank is not above administering his own brand of justice to get the job done.
"Swinson delivers an excellent addition to the noir genre as he unveils layer after layer of his gritty protagonist. Readers of Dennis Lehane and Richard Price as well as fans of The Wire will appreciate the bleak description of inner-city Washington, DC." (Library Journal)
The Dead Don't Bleed * by David Krugler is a mystery/police procedural/spy thriller set in Washington, D.C at the waning days of WWII.
With victory in sight, the suspicion of communist spies in the capitol is palpable, spies who seem to stop at nothing to get their hands on the atomic bomb project. When Naval Intelligence officer Logan Skerrill is found dead in a back alley of the Navy Yard, Lt. Ellis Voigt is called in to investigate.
With clues of the murder pointing to Skerrill's connection to a news-clipping service suspected of Communist affiliations, Voigt goes undercover. Pursuing crosses and double-crosses, he discovers a defecting German physicist, a top secret lab in Los Alamos, and Uranium-235 which suggest something far larger than the usual spy v. spy shenanigans.
"Voigt is an engaging character.... (History professor) Krugler’s portrait of wartime Washington, particularly the rivalries within ONI and the enmity between the FBI and ONI (Office of Naval Intelligence), is thoroughly absorbing." (Booklist) For fans of David Downing and Philip Kerr
* * = 2 starred reviews
* = starred review
Blog Post
Genre-defying Costa Award Winner
by mansii
If you have never read British novelist Frances Hardinge, her genre-defying books may just become your new addiction! Fresh to AADL shelves comes Hardinge’s Costa award-winning novel, The Lie Tree. We could call it historical fiction, mystery, suspense, philosophical literary fiction, fantasy, cultural criticism—or a riveting blend of all of the above.
When Faith Sunderly’s father shows up mysteriously dead, her need for her late father’s approval, and fear of her family’s ruin drive her forward on a mission. She must prove her suspicion that he was murdered. Thus begins her dangerous flirtation with a mystical shrub whose fruit impart visions of truth in exchange for whispered lies. As her flirtation becomes obsession, who will she become? And how trustworthy—or misleading—are these fruit-born visions?
Faith’s story pushes against what fears drive us, what cravings lure us, and what redemption asks of us as we grapple towards it. Set in Victorian England, the stage is not only ripe for a girl deciding who she will become, but a woman asserting her place in a world of men. On top of all of this is a page-turning fiction that will pull you in, spit you out, and leave you wanting more.
Blog Post
For Gillian Flynn fans: Just Fall
by eapearce
A brand new psychological thriller has hit the shelves here at AADL: Just Fall, by Nina Sadowsky. Perfect for fans of Gillian Flynn and Patricia Highsmith, Just Fall explores the question: when you find out that the love of your life is a killer, can you continue to love them anyway?
Ellie and Rob are a golden couple: they both have fantastic jobs, live in a gorgeous apartment, and are madly in love. As their wedding approaches, Ellie is sure that it will be the happiest day of her life. And why shouldn’t it be? But just moments after saying “I do,” Ellie learns that Rob has as terrible secret and has been hiding a dark past. The more Ellie finds out, the deeper she is swept into a vortex of betrayal and danger.
On their honeymoon, Ellie isn’t basking in the Caribbean sunlight, as she’s become the only thing standing in between Rob and his potentially lethal destiny. How far is she willing to go to save the man she loves? As the book jacket puts it, “This sexy, seductive debut novel—balanced on the razor’s edge of moral ambiguity—breathlessly confronts the devastating consequences unleashed when love and murder collide, and devotion lies down with darkness.”
Blog Post
Fabulous Fiction Firsts #588 “Women can accept the fact that a man is a rotter, a swindler, a drug taker, a confirmed liar, and a general swine, without batting an eyelash, and without its impairing their affection..." ~ Agatha Christie
by muffy
It really was NOT my intention to revisit the topic of child abduction again so soon, but The Widow * by award-winning journalist Fiona Barton is NOT to be missed.
A week after her husband Glen is killed by a bus, Jean Taylor is again hounded by the press. This is nothing new. Ever since the abduction of 2-year-old Bella Elliott from her Southampton backyard five years ago, Glen has been the prime suspect. Though the police could not make the charges stick, public opinion has no trouble making him to be a monster. Jean remains the faithful, steadfast wife and an unwavering supporter of Glen's innocence, even after evidence of child pornography turned up on Glen's computers, both at home and at the bank where he was let go.
Told from the alternating perspectives of the widow, journalist Kate Waters, the lead police investigator Bob Sparkes, and Bella's single mother Dawn who still harbors hope that her daughter is still alive, the suspense builds and the intrigue intensifies. The burning question remains - how much does Jean know about Glen’s involvement, and whether she plays a part in Bella's disappearance. Readers who resist skimming to the end will be rewarded with a jaw-dropping conclusion.
Read-alike: Just Fall, a first novel by screenwriter/producer Nina Sadowsky, that begs the question - how can you find out that the person you love is a killer…and continue to love him anyway? "Guilt, sex, and double-crosses collide to produce a blazing inferno of heat and betrayal on a tropical island paradise."
* = starred review
Blog Post
Fabulous Fiction Firsts #587 “The only way you can truly get to know an author is through the trail of ink he leaves behind him. The person you think you see is only an empty character: truth is always hidden in fiction.” ~ Carlos Ruiz Zafón
by muffy
Selected for the March Indie Next and the LibraryReads, The Madwoman Upstairs * by Catherine Lowell is "a mystery, a love story, and a very dark comedy with the Brontës...playing a role back there in the shadows."
20 year-old American Samantha Whipple is the last of the Brontë line and the presumed heir to a long-rumored trove of diaries, paintings, letters, and early novel drafts never revealed to anyone outside of the family. When she fulfills her father's dying wish to attend Oxford (his alma mater) almost immediately, she is the center of speculation and unwanted attention, especially among Brontë scholars and fanatics.
Soon long lost objects thought to have perished in the fire that killed her father begin relentlessly rematerializing in her life, compelling her on an elaborate and frustrating scavenger hunt, guided only by her father's cryptic notes. When she is emotionally and physically challenged to her limits, and a careless mistake places her at risk academically, help comes unexpectedly from her handsome but inscrutable tutor who is "as complex and passionate as his student." Together, they must decode the clues hidden within the Brontës’ novels in order to put the rumor to rest.
"Smart and surprising and fiercely funny." “An entertaining and ultimately sweet story." For fans of Juliet by Anne Fortier.
Companion reads:
Nelly Dean : a return to Wuthering Heights * * by Alison Case, that re-imagines life at Wuthering Heights through the eyes of the Earnshaws’ loyal servant, Nelly Dean. This is the first novel by a professor of 19th century fiction and poetry at Williams College.
Charlotte Brontë : a fiery heart by Claire Harman, is a "landmark biography (that) transforms Charlotte Brontë from a tragic figure into a modern heroine." The Brontës at Haworth by Ann Dinsdale paints a detailed picture of everyday life at Haworth, and provides fascinating insight into the lives of some of the most beloved authors of the 19th century.
* = starred review
* * = 2 starred reviews
Blog Post
A Celebration of friendship: Harper Lee and Truman Capote
by mansii
If you have affection for Harper Lee's Scout Finch and her endearing, if imperfect, small town in the South, you will be delighted by G. Neri’s brand new book Tru and Nelle. Inspired by the real-life friendship of Harper Nelle Lee and Truman Capote, this precious chapter-book recounts the fictionalized adventures of this imaginative pair who forge their friendship from mutual quirkiness and love for books. Tru, a seven-year-old gentleman who wears pristine suits with pride, feels abandoned when he is sent by his parents to stay the summer in Monroeville, Alabama. Yet it is here that he finds a place to belong alongside little sized but big-hearted Nelle, who is more comfortable in overalls than a dress. With Sherlock Holmes as their hero, the two step out to unravel the mystery of a theft, and end up revealing both prejudice and courageous kindness in the hearts around them. A tale for those who have ever felt like the odd-one-out, this celebration of the healing joys of sincere friendship will bring smiles to anyone young or old who can’t get enough of To Kill A Mockingbird, enjoys historical tidbits, or even just craves a good mystery!
Blog Post
The Reading List 2016
by muffy
At the ALA Midwinter in Boston, a committee of 8 librarians announced this past year's best of the best in genre fiction - the Reading List. The winner in each of the 8 categories are:
Adrenaline
Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter
Three sisters are driven apart in the aftermath of one’s disappearance. When a violent crime occurs new fears arise and relationships shift again. Long term effects of family grief are exploited by the compulsions of a psychopath. Brutal and disturbing, this is ultimately a story of love and empowerment.
Fantasy
Uprooted by Naomi Novik
In this enchanted old-world fable, villagers threatened by a blighted magical wood allow the resident wizard to take one daughter into servitude for ten years. When he chooses klutzy Agnieszka, she faces an unexpected future and confronts the dangers of a wider political world and the roots of magical corruption.
Historical Fiction
Crooked Heart by Lissa Evans
Raised by his eccentric ex-suffragette godmother to be a free-thinker, young Noel is thrown into chaos when the London Blitz forces him into the home of a scam artist loyal only to her layabout son. Thrust together, the two oddballs are forced to find a way through the wartime landscape.
Horror
The Fifth House of the Heart by Ben Tripp
Flamboyant antiques dealer Asmodeus “Sax” Saxon-Tang made his fortune by accidentally killing a vampire with a horde of treasure. To protect the only person he loves, his niece, he’s forced to return to old Europe to assemble an eccentric team of vampire hunters in this gory, witty caper.
Mystery
The Long and Faraway Gone by Lou Berney
Cold cases cast a twenty-five year shadow of grief and guilt on the lives of two survivors of traumatic teenage crimes. New leads and new cases bring them back to Oklahoma City as past and present intersect in this poignant and compelling story of lives forever changed by random violence.
Romance
Taking the Heat by Victoria Dahl
Sassy relationship advice columnist Veronica overcomes her commitment anxiety and gains confidence with the help of mountain-climbing librarian Gabe. Steamy romance evolves into a strong relationship as they scale a mountain of family conflicts and share secrets against a majestic Jackson Hole backdrop.
Science Fiction
Golden Son by Pierce Brown
Insurgent Darrow inveigled his way into high Gold society in 2014’s Red Rising. In this dramatic, high octane follow-up, conflicting loyalties and his own ambitions lure Darrow into an untenable web of deceptions. Bolstered by new alliances, Darrow battles to overthrow corrupt lunar leadership and bring freedom to Mars.
Women’s Fiction
Re Jane by Patricia Park
Anxious to escape the strict upbringing of her uncle’s Flushing grocery, Korean-American Jane accepts an au pair position in the pretentious household of two Brooklyn academics and their adopted Chinese daughter. Park has created a bright comic story of falling in love, finding strength, and living on one’s own terms.
Check out the complete list for a shortlist of honor titles in each category.
Blog Post
Fabulous Fiction Firsts #572
by muffy
Readers mourning the untimely death of Ariana Franklin, the creator of the 12th-century medical examiner /catalog/search/keyword/Adelia%20Aguilar">Adelia Aguilar series should be pleased with a new series by Andrea Japp called The Lady Agnes Mystery (translated from the French by Lorenza Garcia).
One of the grandes dames of French crime writing and a forensic scientist by profession, Japp sets this series in early 14th century Normandy when the King of France and the Catholic Church were locked in a battle for power, amidst the medieval Inquisition.
Agnès Philippine Claire, illegitimate daughter of Robert, Baron de Larnay, was married off at thirteen to one of her father's cronies and widowed by sixteen. As Dame de Souarcy, running the estate falls on her shoulder when clothing and feeding her household is a constant struggle. She also has to contend with her lustful half-brother Eudes, who has turned his lecherous advances on her 11-year-old daughter, Mathilde. Meanwhile, in the countryside someone is killing friars and slashing their faces postmortem, possibly in an attempt to make their deaths seem the work of a wild animal in “The Season of the Beast,”, the first of four stories that showcase the courage and cunning needed for Agnes to survive in a time when women had few choices in life other than being “born to wealth, married, nuns, or prostitutes."
Read-alikes for Maurice Druon's The Iron King; C.J. Sansom's /catalog/search/subject/%22Shardlake%2C%20Matthew%20%28Fictitious%20character%29%22">Matthew Shardlake series; and Jean-François Parot's Nicolas Le Floch investigations.
Blog Post
NPR's Best Books of 2015
by eapearce
NPR recently released its Best Books of 2015 list, an in depth yearly endeavor where critics and NPR staff choose their favorite books of the year and compile them into a genre-spanning list of several hundred titles. I love that, along with the expected books on the list that are getting accolades from numerous publications and organizations, NPR’s list always contains more obscure titles that many readers likely missed over the course of the year.
You can view all of the titles from the list that we have available in our catalog here.
So what’s on this list of nearly 300 books? Here’s a preview:
In Speak, by Louisa Hall, a young Puritan woman travels to America with her unwanted husband, while in other time and place Alan Turing writes letters to his best friend’s mother and a Jewish refugee tries to reconnect with his distant wife. Elsewhere in time and space, a lonely young girl speaks with an intelligent software program and a formerly celebrated Silicon Valley entrepreneur is imprisoned for making illegal lifelike dolls. How does Hall tie all these characters together? As they all try somehow to communicate across gaps, Hall connects their stories, creating an amazing book that is a blend of historical fiction, science fiction and fantasy.
V is for Vegetables offers more than 140 simple recipes for cooking vegetables in unique and unexpected ways at home. Author and chef Michael Anthony has cleverly divided the chapters of the book by vegetable, so if you ever find yourself staring at kohlrabi or tomatillos in the grocery store, curious about how one cooks such things, this is the book for you! And even expert cooks will be refreshed by Anthony’s new ideas for ways to use common vegetables like broccoli, tomatoes, carrots and squash.
The Battle of Versailles tells of a little-known event that took place at the Palace of Versailles: as a fundraiser for the restoration of the palace, the world’s elite gathered in the grand theater there for a “fashion competition” of sorts: five American designers (including Oscar de la Renta and Anne Klein) faced off against five French designers considered to be the best designers in the world—Yves Saint Laurent, Hubert de Givenchy and others. The American clothes were expected to be a laughingstock but instead, the garments and the energy of the models who wore them wowed the crowd. By the end of the evening, American fashion in the world had transformed from a footnote to an enormous influence, not only on style itself but also on the way race, gender, sexuality and economics were treated in fashion in the years to come.