Barclay takes what happens when someone with more money than he knows what to do with doesn’t need it anymore, and turns it into a twisty thriller with a new shock at every page turn. I couldn’t put it down.
Find You First by Linwood Barclay (List Price: $27.99, William Morrow, 9780062678317, April 2021)
Reviewed by Ashley Bohinc, Main Street Reads, in Summerville, South Carolina
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The 16th century meets the 21st in Allison Epstein’s thrilling debut novel, A Tip for the Hangman. It’s 1585, and aspiring playwright Christopher Marlowe is recruited as a spy while still an impoverished Cambridge scholar. His task: to help foil an alleged Catholic plot to overthrow Queen Elizabeth I. Blending fact and fiction, and period detail with modern sensibilities, Epstein deftly creates a heady mix of intrigue, drama and romance in this captivating page-turner.
A Tip for the Hangman by Allison Epstein (List Price: $26.95, Doubleday, 9780385546713, 2/9/2021)
Reviewed by Jude Burke-Lewis, Square Books in Oxford, Mississippi
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Dodson’s back. Back again. Dodson’s back. Tell a friend. Or two. Or ten. My apologies to Eminem and to you, dear reader, for the possible ear worm I may have just planted but, THANK YOU Joe Ide! I’ve not laughed that loud, while reading, in some time. Truth be told, my wife tired quickly of me barging into her reading time to say, “Honey, wait until you have hear this bit”. Yeah, too much coffee and great writing so that to me. I’ve enjoyed all of the IQ series and, if I’m being honest, I was fairly sure this would be another solid run of the series but, probably not exceptional. Wrong. Just. Plain. Wrong. I love where Joe is taking us. The depth of the characters continues to develop at a wicked pace. The plot lines are becoming even more ferocious. And IQ keeps getting… smarter? Yep. And the ending? YIKES. Book six Mr. Ide? Bring. It. ON!
Smoke by Joe Ide (List Price: $28, Mulholland Books, 9780316531061, 2/23/2021)
Reviewed by Berkley McDaniel, Fountain Bookstore in Richmond, Virginia
For those who loved Social Creature and Gone Girl: Florence Darrow, our desperately dark protagonist, has been fired from her editing job and taken on the position of an assistant to the infamously anonymous Maud Dixon. What should be a privileged position turns into something completely the opposite after a horrible work trip to Morocco. Who is Maud Dixon? will keep you guessing ’til the end and even after you’ll still be asking questions (in the absolute best way possible).
Who is Maud Dixon? by Alexandra Andrews (List Price: $28, Little, Brown and Company, 9780316500319, 3/2/2021)
Reviewed by Olivia Schaffer, The Bookshelf in Thomasville, Georgia
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Clay McLeod Chapman has not disappointed in his second novel! Eerie in the best way, the story follows five year-old Sean in 1983 and Richard, an art teacher, in 2013. What is supposed to be a fresh start for the boy and the man thirty years apart leads to horrific events for Sean/Richard and everyone around them. Chapman’s impeccable writing brings the scenes to life. From the first page, Chapman skillfully peppers humor throughout, making you comfortable before the inevitable horrific snap of the plot. It is an intriguing look at how actions in our childhood can haunt us into adulthood–sometimes literally haunt us.
Whisper Down the Lane by Clay McLeod Chapman (List Price: $19.99, Quirk Books, 9781683692157, 4/6/2021)
Reviewed by Karyn Cumming, Fountain Bookstore in Richmond, Virginia
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At the beginning, Love and Other Lies was a fast paced typical thriller to read. One which centered on a horrific event–the mass killing at a summer camp for teens, and the disappearance of one of the young campers. It was about the relationship between husband and wife, the love they still have for each other after 15 years of marriage and the lies they might be telling, and about their relationships with their teen daughters. Then you begin to realize what might have really happened and it suddenly becomes an extremely thought-provoking and unnerving story that could have easily been taken from true events. It shows the horrors that can occur with the rise of white supremacy, and how normal people with the best values can be infected by political ideology.
Love and Other Lies is not a feel good story by any means, but it is an important story with lots and lots of topics to discuss and a story that is definitely pertinent to the times in which we live. This is a book that you will think about for a long time after you put it down.
Love and Other Lies by Ben McPherson (List Price: $16.99, William Morrow Paperbacks, 9780062406149, 2/9/2021)
Reviewed by Nancy McFarlane, Fiction Addiction in Greenville, South Carolina.
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When I want a good book, but don’t want to do a search for a book I might like, I grab the latest Lisa Gardner book. I know I will find a great plot, characters and superb writing. This book just confirms my premise. Frankie leads an all-new cast of characters, and the novel is fast-paced look at a darker side of life. Most of us are fortunate to never be the victim of a violent crime, and your loved one disappearing is a particularly brutal example. When the police have been unsuccessful and hope seems lost, Frankie arrives. She is not a retired cop, private detective, well-funded or connected. She is a broke currently sober addict on the run from the demons of her past. She is flawed, relentless and brilliant in her determination. Another fantastic production from Lisa. It is a standalone so don’t delay!
Before She Disappeared by Lisa Gardner (List Price: $27, Dutton, 9781524745042, 1/19/2021)
Reviewed by Jackie Willey, Fiction Addiction in Greenville, South Carolina
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Christina Dodd writes complex plots with characters who are complicated and pushed to limits that are hard to endure. Evelyn is no different; a job that should keep her going as a young teen on her own turns out to be the worst mistake of her life. In prison for a murder she did not commit and on her own she has no hope for the future. An escape leaves her living under an alias at a remote camp in Alaska. During the winter she has nothing but time, and she uses it to plot her vengeance and look into other crimes that involve people she meets. The complexity of human nature and capacity for evil is captured in this suspenseful and well written book. Perfect for her fans and any suspense fan who appreciates great characters.
Wrong Alibi by Christina Dodd (List Price: $17.99, HQN, 9781335080820, 12/29/2020)
Reviewed by Jackie Willey, Fiction Addiction in Greenville, South Carolina
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A Winter 2021 Read This Next! Title
The Project by Courtney Summers
Wednesday Books, February
Courtney Summers is back with another electric gut punch of a novel and I couldn’t be more thrilled to have once again found myself a quivering mass of emotion after turning the last page of The Project. Only Courtney can perfectly encapsulate the dueling states of fragility & ferocity that exist within young women when they find themselves alone in a world that isn’t designed to protect them from harm. I dare you to pick up this brilliant novel about two sisters and a mysterious cult–you won’t be able to set it down again.
— Cristina Russell, Books & Books in Coral Gables, FL
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A Winter 2021 Read This Next! Title
The Push by Ashley Audrain
Pamela Dorman Books, January
Blythe cannot connect with her daughter Violet since birth. Her husband tells her she’s imagining the dislike from her daughter but when she has her son Sam, motherhood is everything she imagined. Tragedy strikes in their family and leaves Blyther wondering everything: Are the women in her family cursed? Is she imagining and being dramatic about Violet? Or is her husband not being a listening partner? This book will suck you in about the beauty and ugly of being a mother. It shook me to my core!
–Deanna Bailey, Story on the Square, McDonough, GA.
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A Winter 2021 Read This Next Title!
The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins
St. Martin’s Press, January
This is one of those books that you can’t wait to get back to so you can figure out what is happening. The end will keep you guessing and make you wonder what happened in the end.
–Amy McNabb, Reading Rock Books in Dickson, TN
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Leave The World Behind is an interesting take on how people react in the case of an emergency surrounded by unknown causes. Amanda and Clay leave Manhattan with their children to escape to a secluded Airbnb on Long Island for vacation. Late in the evening of their first night, an elderly couple claiming to be the owners of the house knock on the door and ask to stay because of a blackout in the city. And more weird things continue to happen…thousands of deer trek pass the house… a sonic boom of sorts cracks all the windows…live flamingos start showing up in the backyard pool…and Amanda and Clay’s son becomes violently ill with no explanation. This book took me a while to get into because the first few chapters are incredibly dense with metaphors and adjectives. I’m glad I stuck with it though, because once you start getting the internal dialogue of the characters…tension and suspicion abound due to the differences of race/social class between the two families. And the scariest part of the novel isn’t necessarily all the natural phenomena, it’s the fear of not knowing why things happen as they do and what kind of darkness that ignorance might bring out of our human nature.
Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam (List Price: $27.99, Ecco, 9780062667632, 10/6/2020)
Reviewed by Stuart McCommon, novel. in Memphis, TN.
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It’s a new start for this family, after experiencing a near tragedy. They’ve now moved from London to Wales and have remodeled an old rectory, making it into a guesthouse. But the old rectory has secrets, and the village has secrets, and this little family has secrets. And where there are secrets, there are lies. And when a death occurs in the B&B, the police are not satisfied that it’s an accident. Too many suspects crowd this B&B and no one knows who to trust. A captivating, but complex plot, this thriller will grab you on the first page and keep you reading until its last, shocking page. It’s fast-paced, with lots of twists and turns, a bit dark at times, and full of suspense. And you’ll never expect this surprise ending!!
Do Not Disturb by Claire Douglas (List price: $26.99, Harper, 9780063037410, November 2020), recommended by Nancy Humphreys, Fiction Addiction, Greenville, SC.
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A Winter 2021 Read This Next! Title
What a great story. This is one of those books that you can’t wait to get back to so you can figure out what is happening. The end will keep you guessing and make you wonder what happened in the end.
The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins (List Price: $27.99, St. Martins Press, 9781250245496 January, 2021).
Reviewed by Amy McNabb, Reading Rock Books in Dickson, TN
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A Fall 2020 Read This Next! Title
Tor Teen | 9781250224736
October 6, 2020
An evocative YA historical fantasy thriller by debut author Sarah Goodman, for fans of Jennifer Donnelly and Libba Bray
MADNESS, SECRETS, AND LIES
Wheeler, Arkansas, 1907
When their father descends into madness after the death of their mother, Verity Pruitt and her little sister Lilah find themselves on an orphan train to rural Arkansas.
In Wheeler, eleven-year-old Lilah is quickly adopted, but seventeen-year-old Verity is not. Desperate to stay close to her sister, Verity indentures herself as a farmhand. But even charming farm boy Abel Atchley can’t completely distract her from the sense that something is not quite right in this little town. Strange local superstitions abound, especially about the eerie old well at the center of the forest. The woods play tricks, unleashing heavy fog and bone-chilling cold…and sometimes visions of things that aren’t there.
But for Verity, perhaps most unsettling of all is the revelation that her own parents have a scandalous history in this very town. And as she tries to unearth the past, sinister secrets come with it—secrets that someone will go to violent lengths to protect…
A haunting tale of long-buried secrets, small-town scandal, and single-minded vengeance by talented debut novelist Sarah Goodman.
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