New Series Alert!

Eeny Meeny (A Helen Grace Thriller Book 1) by M. J. Arlidge

Two people are abducted, imprisoned, and left with a gun. As hunger and thirst set in, only one walks away alive.

It’s a game more twisted than any Detective Inspector Helen Grace has ever seen. If she hadn’t spoken with the shattered survivors herself, she almost wouldn’t believe them.

Helen is familiar with the dark sides of human nature, including her own, however this case—with its seemingly random victims—has her baffled. But as more people go missing, nothing will be more terrifying than when it all starts making sense....     (Publisher Summary) 

A Patron Recommends

Recently, a patron stopped by to let us know about a book she was reading that was full of edge-of-your-seat suspense with twists and turns making it an unpredictable story. "I can't wait to be left alone so I can read this book" (says L.S. The patron didn't want her name shared but she did want to share her enjoyment of the book with you.)

The book is Long Gone by Alafair Burke.

Summary: In New York City’s cut-throat world of art, appearances can be deceiving—especially when art world newcomer Alice Humphrey becomes a suspect in a gruesome murder at a Chelsea gallery, and is thrown into a treacherous labyrinth of intrigue, crime, and conspiracy. Now, Alice must discover the truth behind the murder before the unsolved mystery claims her as its next victim.

National Book Award Fiction Longlist Announced

The National Book Foundation's mission is to celebrate the best of American literature, to expand its audience, and to enhance the cultural value of good writing in America.  Each year they present awards in multiple categories including Fiction, Non-Fiction, Poetry, and Young Reader Literature. For more information about the National Book Foundation click here.

The foundation's longlist for the 2014 Fiction awards are:

Winners of the 2014 National Book Awards will be announced on November 19th.

Quick Picks for the Weekend

Looking for a book to read this weekend but only have a couple of minutes to browse our shelves? Stop by our Impulse Display located at the front of the library by the Circulation Desk and pick up a book or magazine. Currently on display is:

Written in My Own Heart's Blood by Diana Gabaldon: (Historical Fiction/Love Stories)

After being presumed dead, Jamie Fraser returns to find that his best friend has married his wife, his illegitmate son has discovered who his father is, and his nephew has decided to marry a Quaker. (Book 8 in the Outlander Series. Start with Outlander.)

Harbor Island by Carla Negger: (Suspense)

While tracking down stolen artifacts from Boston to Ireland to the coast of Maine, Emma Sharpe, the granddaughter of a world-renowned art detective, and her fiancé, FBI deep-cover agent Colin Donovan, must outwit one of the smartest, most ruthless killers they have ever encountered. (Book 4 in the Sharpe and Donovan series. Start with Saint's Gate.)

Bones Never Lie by Kathy Reichs: (Mystery)

When a serial killer previously responsible for a string of kidnappings and murders in Canada resurfaces in the United States, Temperance Brennan is called in to pursue a deadly predator who narrowly evaded capture by Brennan once before. (Book 17 in the Temperance Brennan series. Start with Deja Dead.)

Seventh Sigil by Margaret Weis and Robert Krammes: (Science Fiction)

Five hundred years ago, a clan of rebels was banished to the bottom of the world; ever since, these Bottom Dwellers have sought revenge, and now they are waging all-out war on the rest of humanity, those who live Above. Their deadly "contramagic" beams destroy buildings and attack naval airships, and their magical drumming brings terrible storms and disrupts the magic of the people and dragons Above. (Book 3 in the Dragon Brigade trilogy. Start with Shadow Raiders.)

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 to The New York Times Best Sellers 9/21/14

Seven titles made their debut on The New York Times Best Sellers: Hardcover Fiction list this weekend 9/21/14, six of them are the next installments in on-going, popular series. (To place a hold on any book, click it's book cover. For more information about each book, scroll down.)

Personal by Lee Child: (Mystery/Suspense)

Jack Reacher finds himself working for the State Department and the CIA to track down the American sniper who took a shot at the president of France and is possibly targeting the G-8 summit packed with world leaders. (Book 19 in the Jack Reacher Series; start with The Killing Floor)

Somewhere Safe with Somebody Good by Jan Karon: (Christian Fiction)

While Father Tim Kavanagh struggles with ambivalence about returning to the pulpit in Mitford, his adopted son, Dooley, falls passionately in love with an aspiring veterinarian against the backdrop of a mayoral reelection campaign and the opening of a new cafe. (Book 10 in the Mitford Years series; start with At Home in Mitford)

The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell: (Science Fiction)

Interweaves six narratives spanning the period between 1984 and the 2030s to chronicle a secret war between a cult of soul-decanters and a small group of vigilantes who would take them down.

The Secret Place by Tana French: (Mystery)

Investigating a photograph of a boy whose murder was never solved, aspiring Murder Squad member Stephen Moran partners with detective Antoinette Conway to search for answers in the cliques and rivalries at a Dublin boarding school. (Book 5 in the Dublin Murder Squad mysteries; start with In the Woods)

The Eye of Heaven by Clive Cussler and Russell Blake: (Adventure/Suspense)

Discovering an artifact-filled, perfectly preserved Viking ship in the ice during an Arctic expedition, Sami and Remi Fargo investigate a legend about a fabled Toltec object, only to be targeted by treasure hunters and crime cartels. (Book 6 in the Fargo Adventure series; start with Spartan Gold)

Dark Blood by Christine Feehan: (Paranormal Romance)

An elite werewolf killer, Zev Hunter, begins to question both his past and his purpose after he is nursed back to consciousness by a member of the Dragonseeker clan. (Book 26 in the Dark series; start with Dark Prince)

Son of No One by Sherrilyn Kenyon: (Paranormal Romance)

Skeptic photographer Josette reluctantly takes employment with a paranormal group before being drawn to condemned immortal Cadegan, whose inner demon is determined to consume Josette's soul. (Book 24 in the Dark-Hunter series; start with Fantasy Lover)

The Latest Installment in the Dublin Murder Club Mystery

The photo on the card shows a boy who was found murdered, a year ago, on the grounds of a girls' boarding school in the leafy suburbs of Dublin. The caption says I KNOW WHO KILLED HIM.

Detective Stephen Moran has been waiting for his chance to get a foot in the door of Dublin's Murder Squad - and one morning, sixteen-year-old Holly Mackey brings him this photo. The Secret Place, a board where the girls at St. Kilda's School can pin up their secrets anonymously, is normally a mishmash of gossip and covert cruelty, but this time someone has used it to reignite the stalled investigation into the murder of handsome, popular Chris Harper. Stephen joins forces with the abrasive Detective Antoinette Conway to find out who and why.

"Beyond the murder mystery, which leaves the reader in suspense throughout, the novel explores the mysteries of friendship, loyalty and betrayal, not only among adolescents, but within the police force as well. Everyone is this meticulously crafted novel might be playing—or being played by—everyone else." - Kirkus Reviews

The Secret Place by Tana French is the fifth novel in the Dublin Murder Club Mysteries. New to the series? Here are the books in reading order:

In The Woods (2007): 

Twenty years after witnessing the violent disappearances of two companions from their small Dublin suburb, detective Rob Ryan investigates a chillingly similar murder that takes place in the same wooded area, a case that forces him to piece together his traumatic memories.

The Likeness (2008): 

Detective Cassie Maddox is still scarred by her last case. When her boyfriend calls her to a chilling murder scene, Cassie is forced to face her inner demons. A young woman has been found stabbed to death outside Dublin, and the victim looks just like Cassie.

Faithful Place (2010):

Detective Frank Mackey finds himself straight back in the dark tangle of relationships he left behind twenty-two years ago when the suitcase belonging to his first love, Rosie Daly, shows up behind a fireplace in a derelict house on Faithful Place.

Broken Harbor (2012):

In the aftermath of a brutal attack that left a woman in intensive care and her husband and young children dead, brash cop Scorcher Kennedy and his rookie partner, Richie, struggle with perplexing clues and Scorcher's haunting memories of a shattering incident from his childhood.

Jack Reacher Returns

Jack Reacher returns in Personal the latest fast-moving, action-packed, suspenseful book from #1 New York Times bestselling author Lee Child.

You can leave the army, but the army doesn’t leave you. Not always. Not completely, notes Jack Reacher—and sure enough, the retired military cop is soon pulled back into service. This time, for the State Department and the CIA in order to track down the American sniper who took a shot at the president of France and who is possibly targeting the G-8 summit packed with world leaders

Click here to place your hold on this novel.

Looking for more thrilling spy series similar to Lee Child's Jack Reacher series? Check out these series recommendations from NoveList:

Adrenaline by Jeff Abbot:

When his pregnant wife and child are kidnapped and he discovers that he has been set up as a traitor, brilliant CIA agent Sam Capra begins a desperate hunt for the unknown enemy who he believes has targeted the wrong man. (Adrenaline is the first of four books in the Sam Capra series followed by The Last Minute, Downfall and Inside Man)

The Dark Tide by Andrew Gross:

When her husband is killed in a tragic Grand Central Station accident, Karen Friedman struggles to rebuild her life with her two teenage children, until a pair of strangers arrives demanding large funds from her late husband's investment business. (The Dark Tide is the first of three in the Ty Hauck series followed by Don't Look Twice and Reckless.)

Cimarron Rose by James Lee Burke:

When his illegitimate son is wrongly accused of murder, Texas attorney and former Texas Ranger Billy Bob Holland stands alone against the ruthless powers controlling the small town of Deaf Smith, Texas, as his investigation uncovers deeply rooted, high-level corruption, violence, and murder. (Cimarron Rose is the first of four books in the  Billy Bob Holland novels followed by Heartwood, Bitterroot, and In the Moon of Red Ponies.)

The Top Ten . . .

Want to know which new books librarian's across the country love? According to the August issue of Library Journal, here are the top ten:

1. One Kick: A Kick Lannigan Novel by Chelsea Cain (Mystery/Suspense): A debut installment in a new series by the author of the Archie Sheridan/Gretchen Lowell best-sellers introduces Kick Lannigan, a famous kidnapping survivor who as an adult uses her martial-arts mastery and affiliation with a wealthy patron to find and rescue missing children.
2. Lucky Us by Amy Bloom (Historical Fiction): Forging a life together after being abandoned by their parents, half sisters Eva and Iris share decades in and out of the spotlight in golden-era Hollywood and mid-twentieth-century Long Island.
3. Heroes Are My Weakness by Susan Elizabeth Phillips (Contemporary Romance): A down-on-her-luck actress reduced to staging kids' puppet shows finds herself trapped on a remote island off the coast of Maine with a sexy horror novelist who knows a dozen ways to kill with his bare hands.
4. Lock In by John Scalzi (Science Fiction): When a new virus causes one percent of the population to become completely paralyzed in body but not in mind, the United States pursues a scientific initiative to develop a virtual-reality world for victims, with unexpected consequences.
5. The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton (Historical Fiction): Engaging the services of a miniaturist to furnish a cabinet-sized replica of her hew home, Nella Oortman, the wife of a merchant in seventeenth-century Amsterdam, discovers that the artist's tiny creations mirror their real-life counterparts in eerie and unexpected ways.
6. Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty (Mystery/Suspense): Follows three mothers, each at a crossroads, and their potential involvement in a riot at a school trivia night that leaves one parent dead in what appears to be a tragic accident, but which evidence shows might have been premeditated.
7. The Truth About Leo by Katie MacAlister (Historical Romance): When she finds English spy Leopold Ernst George Mortimer left for dead and without his memory, Dagmar Marie Sophie, an impoverished Danish princess, marries him in order to escape the country and avoid an arranged marriage.
8. An Unwilling Accomplice by Charles Todd (Mystery/Historical Fiction): While home on leave, World War I battlefield nurse Bess Crawford finds her career, honor, and life in jeopardy when the wounded soldier she is supposed to accompany to Buckingham Palace commits murder and then disappears.
9. The Magician's Land by Lev Grossman (Fantasy Fiction): Visiting his magical college after being cast out of the land of Fillory, Quentin Coldwater, accompanied by Plum, encounters practitioners of gray magic before discovering a spell that could dissolve the boundaries between Fillory and Earth. (Third in the Magician's Trilogy. Start with The Magicians)
10. The Story Hour by Thrity Umrigar (Psychological Fiction): Befriending a young Indian woman named Lakshmi--who is suicidal, lonely, and trapped in a loveless marriage--psychologist Maggie finds their relationship warped by conflicting expectations and threatened by the revelation of long-buried secrets.

For Horse Racing Fans

Are you a fan of the Kentucky Derby and looking for books featuring horse racing? Check out these titles available at the library:

Secretariat Reborn by Susan Klaus (Suspense)

Christian Roberts has the good life, renting out small sailboats on Sarasota Bay, but his peaceful life is shattered when he accepts a thoroughbred colt from his estranged, dying father, an Ocala horse trainer. "Klaus crams a lot into her debut thriller, which combines thoroughbred horse breeding, mob skullduggery, and a love-crazed stalker." (Publishers Weekly Reviews)

Dick Francis's Refusal by Felix Francis (Mystery)

Retired investigator Sid Halley is lured back into the game exploring alleged race-fixing after the suspicious death of the chairman of the racing authority. "In the steeplechase world, "refusal" means that a horse will not take a jump. Dick Francis' son Felix, collaborator with his father on several novels and now the heir to his father's line of mysteries, extends the equestrian definition to the massively banged-up (physically and emotionally) Sid Halley, who stars in a Francis novel for the first time since 2006." (Booklist Reviews) 

Derby Day by D.J. Taylor (Historical Fiction)

As the shadows lengthen over the June grass, all England is heading for Epsom Downs - high life and low life, society beauties and Whitechapel street girls, bookmakers and gypsies, hawkers and acrobats, punters and thieves. Whole families stream along the Surrey back-roads, towards the greatest race of the year. Hopes are high, nerves are taut, hats are tossed in the air - this is Derby Day.

Let Love Find You by Johanna Lindsey (Romance)

Hiring professional matchmaker Devin Baldwin to help her secure a husband after two unsuccessful seasons on the marriage mart, Lady Amanda takes riding lessons from Devin to secure the interests of a titled horseracing fan, a situation that is complicated when Amanda and Devin fall in love.