Psychological Thrillers

The charitable Heidi Wood horrifies her husband and daughter by inviting an apparently homeless teenager and her infant to take refuge in their home, a situation that quickly devolves as details from the girl's past begin to surface.

"As bits and pieces of Willow's story are revealed, the other characters keep the story moving forward toward what the reader knows will be disastrous results. Kubica's debut novel, The Good Girl (2014), also employed multiple points of view and timelines, but Kubica serves up a much more cohesive tale this time around—the story is almost hypnotic and anything but predictable." Kirkus Reviews

Don't forget to check out Mary Kubica's first novel, The Good Girl:

Born to a prominent Chicago judge and his stifled socialite wife, Mia Dennett moves against the grain as a young inner-city art teacher. One night, Mia enters a bar to meet her on-again, off-again boyfriend. But when he doesn't show, she unwisely leaves with an enigmatic stranger. With his smooth moves and modest wit, at first Colin Thatcher seems like a safe one-night stand. But following Colin home will turn out to be the worst mistake of Mia's life. (Publisher Summary) 

Debut Novel: the Silver Swan

A debut novel about a daughter grappling with the legacy of her famous and imposing cellist father, the secrets he has hidden from her, and the fate of his great Stradivarius cello.

Alexander Feldmann is a revered and sought-after performer whose prodigious talent, striking good looks and worldly charm prove irresistible to all who hear and encounter him. After years of searching, he acquires a glorious cello, the Silver Swan, a rare Stradivarius masterpiece long lost to the world of music.

Mariana is Alexander’s only child and the maestro has large ambitions for her. By the age of nineteen she emerges as a star cellist in her own right, and is seen as the inheritor of her father's genius. There are whispers that her career might well outpace his. Mariana believes the Silver Swan will one day be hers, until a stunning secret from her father’s past entwines her fate and that of the Silver Swan in ways she could never have imagined. (Publisher Summary)

The Little Paris Bookshop

“There are books that are suitable for a million people, others for only a hundred. There are even remedies—I mean books—that were written for one person only…A book is both medic and medicine at once. It makes a diagnosis as well as offering therapy. Putting the right novels to the appropriate ailments: that’s how I sell books.”

Monsieur Perdu calls himself a literary apothecary. From his floating bookstore in a barge on the Seine, he prescribes novels for the hardships of life. Using his intuitive feel for the exact book a reader needs, Perdu mends broken hearts and souls. The only person he can't seem to heal through literature is himself; he's still haunted by heartbreak after his great love disappeared. She left him with only a letter, which he has never opened. (Publisher Summary) 

Click here to place your hold on The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George. 

Book Review: Whisper Hollow by Chris Cander

Set in a small coal-mining town, a novel full of secrets, love, betrayal, and suspicious accidents, where Catholicism casts a long shadow and two courageous women make choices that will challenge our own moral convictions.

Myrthen Bergmann, from a small hillside town in West Virginia, excludes herself from all forms of friendship and affection and begins a twisted, haunted life dedicated to God, after her twin sister is killed in an accident.

"Cander divinely delves into multiple points of view, crafting a collage of vibrant, layered characters while charting six decades of poignant, precise moments. A distinctive novel that sublimely measures the distressed though determined heartbeat of a small mountain community." - Kirkus Reviews

A Redemption Story from Debut Author Gets a Lot of Buzz

Black River by debut author S.M. Hulse tells the story of a man marked by a prison riot as he returns to the town, and the convict, who shaped him.

When Wes Carver returns to Black River, he carries two things in the cab of his truck: his wife’s ashes and a letter from the prison parole board. The convict Bobby Williams,who held him hostage during a riot, twenty years ago, is being considered for release.

Wes has been away from Black River ever since the riot. He grew up in this small Montana town, and, like his father before him and most of the men there, he made his living as a Corrections Officer. A talented, natural fiddler, he found solace and joy in his music. But during that riot Williams changed everything for Wes — undermining his faith and taking away his ability to play.

How can a man who once embodied evil ever come to good? How can he pay for such crimes with anything but his life? As Wes considers his own choices and grieves for all he’s lost, he must decide what he believes and whether he can let Williams walk away.

"Heads up—Hulse is a smart writer, able to reveal her character's gut-level emotions and trickiest self manipulations. Comparing the author to Annie Proulx, Wallace Stegner, or Kent Haruf is no exaggeration. Her debut is bound to turn readers' hearts inside out and leave them yearning for some sweet, mournful fiddle music." (Library Journal Reviews)

You'll Want to Change Your Locks After Reading This

A Pleasure and a Calling by Phil Hogan is a deliciously unsettling, darkly funny novel about a man who quietly spies on the private lives of his neighbors.

You won't remember Mr. Heming. He was the agent who showed you around your home, negotiated a price with the owner, and called you with the good news. The less good news is that, all these years later, he still has the key. That's absurd, you laugh. Of all the many hundreds of houses he has sold, why would he still have the key to mine? The answer is; he has the keys to them all.

Mr. Heming considers himself a connoisseur of the private lives of others. As details emerge about his troubled childhood, his hobby begins to form a clear pattern, and the reasons behind it come into focus. When the quiet routine of the village is disrupted by strange occurrences, including a dead body found in the backyard of a client's home, Mr. Heming realizes it may only be a matter of time before his secrets are found out.

"Hogan skillfully builds a character that combines Mr. Goodbar, Hannibal Lector and Moriarty..." (Kirkus Reviews)

"William Heming joins the ranks of unforgettable, unreliable narrators in this gloriously creepy novel of psychological suspense." (Booklist Reviews)

A Woman's Quest to Find Her Husband a Wife

Twenty-seven-year-old Daisy already beat breast cancer three years ago. How can this be happening to her again? 

Confronting the final months of her life when her breast cancer returns, Daisy endeavors to find her husband another wife, an effort that forces her to make difficult choices.

Daisy scouts local parks, coffee shops and online dating sites looking for Jack’s perfect match. But the further she gets on her quest, the more she questions the sanity of her plan. As the thought of her husband with another woman becomes all too real, Daisy’s forced to decide what’s more important in the short amount of time she has left: her husband’s happiness—or her own?

In her debut novel Before I Go, "Oakley expertly tugs at the heartstrings with well-rounded characters and a liberal dose of gallows humor." (Publishers Weekly Reviews)

Librarian's Picks of the Month

Not sure what to read next? Come check out this month's Librarian's Picks display (on the main floor across from the video room) featuring some gems you may have missed (or want to read again!) including:

One for the Money by Janet Evanovich: (Mystery)

Go back to the beginning of this witty series and enjoy again how Stephanie Plum turns to bounty hunting for quick cash and finds herself tracking her first quarry, an ex-cop accused of murder, who turns out to be her first lover, with whom she still shares a powerful chemistry.

The Husband by Dean Koontz: (Suspence/Psychological Fiction)

When landscaper Mitchell Rafferty receives a phone call that his wife has been kidnapped and there is a two million dollar ransom, his extraordinary commitment to his wife will take him on a harrowing, seventy-two-hour journey of adventure, sacrifice, and redemption. 

Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks: (Love Story)

Katie, a newcomer to the small town of Southport, North Carolina, resists forming any personal ties until she is drawn into relationships with Alex, a young widower, and Jo, her plainspoken single neighbor, who help her overcome her fearful past.

The Help by Kathryn Stockett: (Historical Fiction)

In Jackson, Mississippi, in 1962, there are lines that are not crossed. With the civil rights movement exploding all around them, three women start a movement of their own, forever changing a town and the way women--black and white, mothers and daughters--view one another.

The Next Gone Girl?

The Girl on the Train by journalist turned author Paula Hawkins has been getting a lot a buzz in the book world as being the next Gone Girl novel. True or not, we predict this book will be in high demand when it is released on January 13th! Click the book cover to place your hold today.

Book Summary: Rachel takes the same commuter train every morning. Every day she rattles down the track, flashes past a stretch of cozy suburban homes, and stops at the signal that allows her to daily watch the same couple breakfasting on their deck. She’s even started to feel like she knows them. "Jess and Jason,” she calls them. Their life as she sees it is perfect. Not unlike the life she recently lost.

And then she sees something shocking. It’s only a minute until the train moves on, but it’s enough. Now everything’s changed. Unable to keep it to herself, Rachel offers what she knows to the police, and becomes inextricably entwined in what happens next, as well as in the lives of everyone involved. Has she done more harm than good?

Us by David Nicholls

Douglas Petersen may be mild-mannered, but behind his reserve lies a sense of humor that, against all odds, seduces beautiful Connie into a second date . . . and eventually into marriage. Now, almost three decades after their relationship first blossomed in London, they live more or less happily in the suburbs with their moody seventeen year-old son, Albie. Then Connie tells him she thinks she wants a divorce.

Narrated from Douglas’s endearingly honest, slyly witty, and at times achingly optimistic point of view, Us is the story of a man trying to rescue his relationship with the woman he loves, and learning how to get closer to a son who’s always felt like a stranger. 

"Nicholls . . . has created in Douglas a man who has always known where he was and where he was going and who now is suddenly adrift emotionally as well as physically. And all the guidebooks and online tours won't be enough to right his course. Are you thinking this is a predictable tale of family dynamics? Think again; this is Nicholls, after all. For those who loved One Day, the author's latest is another heart-grabber about discovering what makes us happy and learning to let go." (Library Journal Reviews)

This highly anticipated new novel has received many positive reviews and is already on the long list for the Man Booker Prize. Place your hold for Us today.

Join the Book Discussion

The Community Library will be holding a book discussion of the The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid on November 13th between 2PM and 4PM.

A young Muslim American, Changez is living the American dream, with an education at an Ivy League college, high-paying job, and romance with Erica, a member of the elite New York social circles, until the events of September 11th turn his life upside down and force him to confront his personal allegiances. (Publisher Summary)

Click here to reserve your seat today! 

'Tis the Season for a Thriller

Winner of the 2014 Thriller Award for Best Hardcover Fiction (as announced by the International Thriller Writers in July), The Demonologist by Andrew Pyper is a psychological fiction novel sure to provide a big thrill...

Winning acclaim for his expertise in demonic literature including Milton's Paradise Lost, Columbia professor David Ullman travels to Italy and witnesses a startling phenomenon that challenges his skepticism before his 12-year-old daughter is targeted by a demonic enemy that would claim him as a messenger. (Publisher Summary)

By the award-winning author of Lost Girls.

Book to Movie Alert: Billy Lynn's Long Half Time Walk

Ang Lee will direct Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk, based on the novel by Ben Fountain, a satire set in Texas during America's war in Iraq that explores the gaping national disconnect between the war at home and the war abroad. 

Noting that it is Lee's first project since the Oscar-winning Life of Pi, Deadline.com reported that the director is reuniting with Tom Rothman at TriStar for the movie. Simon Beaufoy wrote the script. (Read the full story here) No word yet on when this book is set to hit the screen.

Summary: A ferocious firefight with Iraqi insurgents at "the battle of Al-Ansakar Canal"—three minutes and forty-three seconds of intense warfare caught on tape by an embedded Fox News crew—has transformed the eight surviving men of Bravo Squad into America's most sought-after heroes. For the past two weeks, the Bush administration has sent them on a media-intensive nationwide Victory Tour to reinvigorate public support for the war. Now, on this chilly and rainy Thanksgiving, the Bravos are guests of America's Team, the Dallas Cowboys, slated to be part of the halftime show alongside the superstar pop group Destiny's Child.

Over the course of the day, Specialist Billy Lynn will begin to understand difficult truths about himself, his country, his struggling family, and his brothers-in-arms—soldiers both dead and alive. In the final few hours before returning to Iraq, Billy will drink and brawl, yearn for home and mourn those missing, face a heart-wrenching decision, and discover pure love and a bitter wisdom far beyond his years.

Recommended Reads for Book Clubs (or Anyone)

Looking for a book to read with your book club or group? The Women's National Book Association, at their website National Reading Group Month, has put together their 2014 Selections including 20 novels that you may not have heard about in popular book reviews yet they believe are worth your reading time including:

Painted Horses by Malcolm Brooks: (Love Story)
A young archaeologist surveying a Montana canyon in the 1950s ahead of the planned construction of a major dam, meets a former mounted cavalryman, who shows her the beauty in the stark landscape around her. Painted Horses sends a dauntless young woman on a heroic quest, sings a love song to the horseman’s vanishing way of life, and reminds us that love and ambition, tradition and the future, often make strange bedfellows.

Prayers for the Stolen by Jennifer Clement: (Psychological Fiction)
Born in a rural Mexico region where girls are disguised as boys to avoid the attentions of traffickers, Ladydi dreams of a better life before moving to Mexico City, where she falls in love and ends up in a prison with other women who share her experiences.

An Untamed State by Roxane Gay: (Suspense Fiction)
Mireille is living a fairy tale as the daughter of one of Haiti’s richest sons and with an adoring husband and a precocious infant son, by all appearances a perfect life until she is kidnapped in front of her father’s estate. Held captive by a man who calls himself The Commander, Mireille waits for her father to pay her ransom. As it becomes clear he intends to resist paying, Mireille must endure the torments of a man who resents everything she represents.

Neverhome by Laird Hunt: (Historical Fiction)
Follows the experiences of Ash Thompson, who becomes a folk hero after she abandons her farmer husband and disguises herself as a man to go fight for the South during the Civil War.

What is Visible by Kimberly Elkins: (Biographical/Historical Fiction)
Presents a fictionalized account of the life and challenges of Laura Bridgman, the first deaf and blind woman to learn language, and those who helped her, including the founder of the Perkins Institute, with whom she was in love, and her beloved teacher.

The Orphans of Race Point by Patry Francis: (Suspense Fiction)
When priest Gus Silva, the man she has never stopped loving, is charged with murder, Hallie Costa, who has known Gus since childhood, must not only free him from prison, but from the curse of his past.






For the complete list of the 2014 Sections click here or stop by the reference desk to speak with one of our librarians.

New York, New York

The big city is calling! This month's display on the main floor of the library is featuring books all about, or set in, New York City including the following novels:

Dreamland by Kevin Baker: (Historical/Mystery/Love story)

Coney Island's Dreamland amusement park becomes the setting for a sweeping historical novel that follows a young Eastern European stowaway from his 1909 arrival in New York City through his rise to power in a Manhattan underworld organization to the birth of the labor union movement.

Trauma by Patrick McGrath: (Psychological Fiction)

Growing up in a severely dysfunctional family, Charlie Weir builds a career as a psychiatrist in New York City, working with victims of trauma including veterans returning from Vietnam, but the suicide of a patient, the breakup of his marriage, the growing turmoil of the city around him, and a volatile other woman lead Charlie to question everything, even his own sanity.

Gods of Gotham by Lyndsay Faye: (Mystery/Historical)

Joining the newly formed NYPD at the height of Ireland's 19th-century potato famine, Timothy reluctantly assumes his duties in a notorious slum district, where in the middle of the night he hears a little girl's claim that dozens of bodies have been buried in a local forest.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer: (Bildungsromans/Humorous)

Nine-year-old Oskar Schell is a precocious Francophile who idolizes Stephen Hawking and plays the tambourine extremely well. He's also a boy struggling to come to terms with his father's death in the World Trade Center attacks. As he searches New York City for the lock that fits a mysterious key he left behind, Oskar discovers much more than he could have imagined.

Time Travel Fans

Take a trip through time with these time travel stories:

• The 13th Hour by Richard Doetsch - A tale told in reverse finds an innocent man sitting in jail after being accused of his wife's murder and given an opportunity by a gray-haired stranger to go back in time on an hour-by-hour basis to discover what happened, an opportunity that poses a painful dilemma.
• The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells by Andrew Sean Greer - To alleviate her suffocating depression after the death of her twin brother and the break-up with her long-time lover, Greta Wells embarks on a radical psychiatric treatment that has an unexpected side effect, which transports her to the lives she might have had if she had been born in a different era.
• 11/22/63 by Stephen King - Receiving a horrific essay from a GED student with a traumatic past, high-school English teacher Jake Epping is enlisted by a friend to travel back in time to prevent the assassination of John F. Kennedy, a mission for which he must reacclimate to 1960s culture and befriend troubled loner Lee Harvey Oswald.
• The Company of the Dead by David Kowelski - March 1912. A mysterious man appears aboard the Titanic on its doomed voyage. His mission? To save the ship. The result? A world where the United States never entered World War I, thus launching the secret history of the 20th Century. Joseph Kennedy, grand-nephew to the president, is one of the six people who can set history to its rightful order, even if it means his non-existence.
• Hollow World by Michael J. Sullivan - Upon learning that he is terminally ill, Ellis, a man who has always played it safe, decides to throw caution to the wind and use the time machine he has constructed in his garage.
• Blackout by Connie Willis - Stranded in the past during World War II, three researchers from the future investigate period behavior and seek each other out in a shared effort to return to their own time.

Looking for more? Ask one of our reference librarians for recommendations.

Librarian's Picks

Want to read a book specifically recommended by our librarians? Stop by the Librarian's Picks display on the main floor of the library. This month you'll find:

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie: First, there were ten - a curious assortment of strangers summoned as weekend guests to a private island off the coast of Devon. Their host, an eccentric millionaire unknown to all of them, is nowhere to be found. All that the guests have in common is a wicked past they're unwilling to reveal - and a secret that will seal their fate. For each has been marked for murder. One by one they fall prey. Before the weekend is out, there will be none. And only the dead are above suspicion.

Loving Frank by Nancy Horan: Fact and fiction blend in a historical novel that chronicles the relationship between seminal architect Frank Lloyd Wright and Mamah Cheney, from their meeting in Oak Park, Illinois, when they were each married to another, to the clandestine affair that shocked Chicago society.

The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton: Abandoned on a 1913 voyage to Australia, Nell is raised by a dock master and his wife who do not tell her until she grows up that she is not their child, a situation that causes her to return to England and eventually hand down her quest for answers to her granddaughter.

In Times of Fading Light by Eugene Ruge: Visiting the Mexico region where his grandparents lived as exiles, a terminal cancer patient surveys his family's political history, from his grandparents' return to the GDR to help build a socialist state, to his father's decade spent in a gulag for criticizing the Soviet regime, to his son's desire to leave the political struggles of the 20th century in the past.

The Ten Year Nap by Meg Wolitzer: Ten years after leaving high-power jobs to raise their children, four New York friends enter their forties while struggling with the differences between their past ideals and their present realities, a situation that becomes turbulent when one of them meets a successful working mother of three who seems to have it all.

Need Another Beach Read?

Looking for another beach read? Stop by our display on the lower level of the library for some quick picks including:

Summer Sisters by Judy Blume: Two women from very different families become inseparable companions during summers on Martha's Vineyard during their coming-of-age years, forging the bonds of a lifelong friendship that weathers growing up, marriage, children, careers, and betrayal.

Something Borrowed by Emily Griffen: Rachel has always been the consummate good girl---until her thirtieth birthday, when, after too many drinks, she ends up in bed with her best friend's fiancé. Although determined to put the one-night fling behind her, Rachel realizes she has genuine feelings for the one guy she should run from. As the wedding nears, Rachel knows she has to make a choice. In doing so, she discovers that the lines between right and wrong can be blurry, endings aren't always neat, and sometimes you have to risk all to win true happiness.

Ruby by Anne Hood: Following the tragic death of her husband, Olivia, a grieving New York City milliner, desperately struggles to rebuild her life, until she meets Ruby, a young, pregnant delinquent abandoned by her family, who takes up residence in Olivia's Rhode Island beach house. An unlikely friendship is forged as Olivia nurtures Ruby and her unborn child and experiences the daily challenges presented by a wayward teen, who may or may not teach Olivia how to live again.

Author Spotlight on Cecelia Ahern

Cecelia Ahern, the daughter of an Irish Prime Minister, received a journalism degree but published her first novel, P.S. I Love You, at age 21. P.S. I Love You went on to become an international bestseller and was adapted into a motion picture of the same name starring Hilary Swank and Gerard Butler.  Ahern also was the writer and producer of the TV series Samantha Who? and another one of her novels (Where Rainbows End (aka Rosie Dunne)) was recently adapted into the upcoming movie Love, Rosie.

Ahern's books feature sassy humor, Irish settings, strong young female characters, and a sense of whimsy. While her first two novels were Chick Lit, her more recent books have a fairy-tale, magical quality about them. (NoveList)

Interested in reading a few? Here are her novels listed in publication order:

P.S., I Love You (Feb 2004): Devoted to her husband, Gerry, Holly has always depended on him to keep her going and is lost when she loses him to brain cancer, until a package arrives containing ten envelopes filled with practical and impractical advice for carrying on her life.

Rosie Dunne (Feb 2005): Best friends since childhood, Rosie and Alex's relationship gets closer by the day, until Alex gets the news that his family is leaving Dublin and moving to Boston. Devastated, the two make plans for Rosie to apply to colleges in the U.S. Everything falls into place until Rosie gets news that will change their lives and cause them to go their separate ways. But destiny is a funny thing, and in this novel, structured as a series of clever e-mails, letters, notes, and a trail of missed opportunities, Alex and Rosie find out that fate isn't done with them yet.

If You Could See Me Now (Jan 2006): Elizabeth's life is an organized mess. The organized part is all due to her own efforts. The mess is entirely due to her sister, Saoirse, whose personal problems leave Elizabeth scrambling to pick up the pieces. One of these pieces is Saoirse's six-year-old son, Luke. Luke is quiet and contemplative, until the arrival of a new friend, Ivan, turns him into an outgoing, lively kid. And Elizabeth's life is about to change in wonderful ways she has only dreamed of.

There's No Place Like Here (Jan 2007): Sometimes it takes losing everything to truly find yourself... Tracking down missing persons as a way of purging lingering demons about a childhood friend who went missing, Sandy Shortt finds herself increasingly consumed by a growing obsession with understanding how and why people disappear.

Thanks for the Memories (Jan 2008): How can you know someone you've never met? That's the question haunting Joyce Conway these days. Recovering from a terrible accident and with her marriage in pieces, Joyce is suddenly plagued by an overwhelming sense of déjà vu that makes her feel as if the life she's living is not her own. During the day she has vivid memories of things she's never seen and at night she dreams of a little girl she's sure she's never met. Joyce is convinced she's lost her mind . . . until a series of coincidences leads her on a journey to meet the one person who may hold the answer she needs.

Mrs. Whippy (Nov 2009): Emelda is 46 years old. Her husband, Charlie, has left her for a 23-year-old dancer. Her five difficult sons worship their father and blame Emelda for his leaving. On top of everything else, she has to struggle with a new job at the local supermarket. For comfort she turns to her only true friend - ice-cream. But lately there's a handsome man driving the ice-cream van. Could romance be about to blossom?

The Gift (Jan 2011): Despite job stress and a crumbling home life, workaholic businessman Lou Suffern gives Gabe, a homeless man, a job in his company's mail room; but the mysterious Gabe seems to be in two places at once and he's meddling in Lou's private affairs, in a story where Gabe eventually teaches Lou a valuable lesson.

The Book of Tomorrow (Jan 2011): Forced into a humbler life with relatives in Ireland after the sudden death of her father, spoiled sixteen-year-old Tamara Goodwin discovers a diary of future entries written in her handwriting that she hopes will reveal the truth about her mother's troubling health.

The Time of My Life (Apr 2013): A woman who has devoted herself to her friends, her cat, her family and a job she doesn't love is forced to examine the choices she has made when Life literally shows up on her doorstep demanding that she makes changes.

One Hundred Names (May 2014): After her dying mentor leaves her a mysterious list of 100 names, journalist Kitty Logan tries to locate the people and uncover their connections in a story of secrets, second chances, and the hidden connections that unite our lives—a universal tale that will grip you with its emotional power and mesmerize you with its magic.