New Books (November)

Featuring: David Baldacci, Caroline Frost, Tess Gerritsen, Elise Juska, Victor Lodato, James Logan, Abir Mukherjee, Lauren Nossett, Willy Vlautin

David Baldacci, THE EDGE (Grand Central)

The 6:20 Man is back, dropped by his handlers into a small coastal town in Maine to solve the murder of a CIA agent who knew America’s dirtiest secrets — can Travis Devine uncover the truth before his time runs out?

When CIA operative Jenny Silkwell is murdered in rural Maine, government officials have immediate concerns over national security. Her laptop and phone were full of state secrets that, in the wrong hands, endanger the lives of countless operatives. In need of someone who can solve the murder quickly and retrieve the missing information, the U.S. government knows just the chameleon they can call on.

Ex-Army Ranger Travis Devine spent his time in the military preparing to take on any scenario, followed by his short-lived business career chasing shadows in the deepest halls of power, so his analytical mind makes him particularly well-suited for complex, high-stakes tasks. Taking down the world’s largest financial conspiracy proved his value, and in comparison, this case looks straightforward. Except small towns hold secrets and Devine finds himself an outsider again.

Devine must ingratiate himself with locals who have trusted each other their whole lives, and who distrust outsiders just as much. Dak, Jenny’s brother, who’s working to revitalize the town. Earl, the retired lobsterman who found Jenny’s body. And Alex, Jenny’s sister with a dark past of her own. As Devine gets to know the residents of Putnam, Maine, answers seem to appear and then transform into more questions. There’s a long history of secrets and those who will stop at nothing to keep them from being exposed. Leaving Devine with no idea who he can trust… and who wants him dead.

I think I’m going to have to pick Baldacci as the Author To Get Caught Up On in 2024… I’ve somehow managed to fall so far behind — with an author I used to read on day of release! Too many books, so little time. Also: eReader Amnesia (as in: it’s on my eReader, I can’t see it on a shelf, and as a result I forget it’s there… Not a great quality.) Anyway, I’m really looking forward to this and the first book in the series — The 6:20 Man — as soon as I can. The Edge is out now, published by Grand Central Publishing in North America and Macmillan in the UK.

Also on CR: Reviews of Stone Cold, The Whole Truth, Divine Justice, First Family, True Blue, Deliver Us From Evil, Hell’s Corner, Bullseye, The Innocent, The Hit, The Target, Guilty, End Game, and Memory Man

Follow the Author: Website, Goodreads, Instagram, Twitter
Review copy received via NetGalley

Caroline Frost, THE LAST VERSE (William Morrow)

A gripping novel set in the country music world of 1970s Nashville about a struggling musician who writes a hit song that both promises her long-sought-after fame and implicates her in a heinous crime.

When aspiring musician Twyla Finch arrives in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1977, the nineteen-year-old Texan is dazzled by the fringe-and-rhinestones country music scene. Live music flows from bars, open mic nights tempt with the chance of stardom, and record label execs seek the next hot new act.

As Twyla finds her way in this vibrant town, she soon falls for Chet Wilton, country music hopeful and son of blue-blooded Nashvillians. When a night out with Chet goes terribly wrong, Twyla finds herself involved in a shocking crime. Hoping to process what happened that fateful night, she composes a haunting ballad that she performs only once in an empty bar. But weeks later, when she turns on the radio, she hears another woman singing her song.

Twyla must decide: Should she claim her ballad and secure the fame she’s always wanted? Or stay quiet and avoid implicating herself in the terrible crime she’s desperate to put in the past?

Seductive and bold, tense and unflinching, The Last Verse is the story of a woman’s ambitions, obsessions, and the harrowing road to claiming her voice.

Thought this sounded like it could be interesting. Looking forward to reading it. The Last Verse is due to be published by William Morrow in North America and in the UK, on March 5th, 2024.

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Review copy received via Edelweiss

Tess Gerritsen, THE SPY COAST (Thomas & Mercer)

A retired CIA operative in small-town Maine tackles the ghosts of her past…

Former spy Maggie Bird came to the seaside village of Purity, Maine, eager to put the past behind her after a mission went tragically wrong. These days, she’s living quietly on her chicken farm, still wary of blowback from the events that forced her early retirement.

But when a body turns up in Maggie’s driveway, she knows it’s a message from former foes who haven’t forgotten her. Maggie turns to her local circle of old friends ― all retirees from the CIA ― to help uncover the truth about who is trying to kill her, and why. This “Martini Club” of former spies may be retired, but they still have a few useful skills that they’re eager to use again, if only to spice up their rather sedate new lives.

Complicating their efforts is Purity’s acting police chief, Jo Thibodeau. More accustomed to dealing with rowdy tourists than homicide, Jo is puzzled by Maggie’s reluctance to share information ― and by her odd circle of friends, who seem to be a step ahead of her at every turn.

As Jo’s investigation collides with the Martini Club’s maneuvers, Maggie’s hunt for answers will force her to revisit a clandestine career that spanned the globe, from Bangkok to Istanbul, from London to Malta. The ghosts of her past have returned, but with the help of her friends ― and the reluctant Jo Thibodeau ― Maggie might just be able to save the life she’s built.

This is the first novel in a new series, the Martini Club. The synopsis caught my attention, and Gerritsen is an author I’ve always wanted to read — I do find it odd that I haven’t read any of the author’s novels before. So, when I saw it was available for review, I jumped at the chance. The Spy Coast is out now in North America, published by Thomas & Mercer; it is due to be published in the UK by Bantam Press, on January 18th, 2024.

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Review copy received via NetGalley

Elise Juska, REUNION (Harper)

A story about three friends in their forties forced to reckon with their lives during a college reunion in coastal Maine.

It’s June 2021, and three old college friends are heading to New England and the twenty-fifth reunion that was delayed the year before. Hope, a stay-at-home mom, is desperate for a return to her beloved campus, a reprieve from her tense marriage, and the stresses of pandemic parenting. Adam is hesitant to leave his bucolic but secluded life with his wife and their young sons. Single mother Polly hasn’t been back to campus in more than twenty years and has no interest in returning — but changes her mind when her struggling teenage son suggests a road trip.

But the reunion isn’t what any of them had envisioned. Hope, always upbeat, is no longer able to downplay the pressures of life at home or the cracks in her longstanding friendships. Adam finds himself energized by the memory of his carefree, reckless younger self — which only reminds him how much has changed since those halcyon days. Polly cannot ignore the ghosts of her college years, including a closely guarded secret. When the weekend takes a startling turn, all three find themselves reckoning with the past — and how it will bear on the future.

The new novel from the author of If We Had Known — a novel I bought a very long time ago, but keep forgetting I have on my Kindle… (Curse eBook invisibility!) This also sounds interesting, and I hope to get to this (and the other novel) as soon as I can. Reunion is due to be published by Harper in North America and in the UK, on May 7th, 2024.

Follow the Author: Website, Goodreads, Instagram, Twitter
Review copy received via Edelweiss

Victor Lodato, HONEY (Harper)

A glamorous octogenarian — the daughter of a notorious New Jersey mobster — returns to the home she’d long ago rejected, a world very different from the one she left behind.

Though she’s already led a wonderful life in Los Angeles for more than half a century, Honey Fasinga’s days continue to get better and better. A spry 82, she’s blessed with robust health and a girlish figure and enjoys good wine, fine clothes, financial security, romance, and well-protected peace. Long ago she broken ties with her New Jersey mobster family and moved west. Now it’s time to go home, make her peace, and come to terms with the tragedies of her past — even though she still remembers where all the bodies are buried.

But Honey’s best intentions frizzle when her lover suddenly dies, her great-nephew Michael bursts into her life in what appears to be a drug-fueled frenzy, and her Lexus gets jacked. Why has Michael’s mysteriously appeared — only to disappear even more suddenly? Honey is curious to find the answer — in between navigating the awkward social labyrinths of funerals for old friends and enemies. Complicating matters, her overly friendly young neighbor seems to have gotten herself involved with an unsavory character who promises nothing but trouble.

In the twilight of her life, Honey thought she was done with the world. Maybe, though, it still needs her to teach it some lessons about goodness, self-respect, and grace under pressure. An ardent exploration of love in all its forms and at any age, Honey is a funny, charming novel that will break your heart and piece it back together again.

I haven’t read Lodato’s previous novel, the acclaimed Edgar & Lucy. When I read the synopsis for his new novel, I was intrigued. Very different type of protagonist to what I usually read (or see available). So, when I saw I could review it, I jumped at the chance. Honey is due to be published by Harper in North America, on April 16th, 2024.

Follow the Author: Website, Goodreads, Instagram
Review copy received via Edelweiss

James Logan, THE SILVERBLOOD PROMISE (Tor Books)

Set in a city of traders and thieves, monsters and murderers…

Lukan Gardova is a cardsharp, academy dropout, and — thanks to a duel that ended badly — the disgraced heir to an ancient noble house. His days consist of cheap wine, rigged card games, and wondering how he might win back the life he threw away.

When Lukan discovers that his estranged father has been murdered in strange circumstances, he finds fresh purpose. Deprived of his chance to make amends for his mistakes, he vows to unravel the mystery behind his father’s death.

His search for answers leads him to Saphrona, fabled city of merchant princes, where anything can be bought if one has the coin. Lukan only seeks the truth, but instead he finds danger and secrets in every shadow.

For in Saphrona, everything has a price — and the price of truth is the deadliest of all.

This debut has been getting a lot of positive buzz since it was announced (and since the cover was unveiled). I met James Logan many years ago at World Fantasy Con in Brighton (I think it must have been 2013?) — shortly after he’d started working in publishing, after running the Speculative Horizons website for some time (I think I have that chronology right). Looking forward to reading this as soon as I can. The Silverblood Promise is due to be published by Tor Books in North America (May 7th, 2024) and Jo Fletcher Books in the UK (April 25th).

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Review copy received via NetGalley

Abir Mukherjee, HUNTED (Mulholland Books)

In London, the police storm Heathrow Airport to bring in a father for questioning about his missing daughter.

In Florida, a mother makes a connection between her son and the bomber, fearing he has been radicalized.

And in Oregon, an unknown organization’s conspiracy to bring America to its knees unfolds…

On the run from the authorities, the two parents are thrown together in a race against time to stop a catastrophe that will derail the country’s future forever.

But can they find their kids before it’s too late?

I’m a big fan of Mukherjee’s Wyndham & Banerjee series (I only have one left to catch up on), so when I learned that he was turning his attention to contemporary thriller/crime, I was intrigued. Sure, I wanted more historical crime from him, but I am also very much looking forward to reading this new one — which sounds great. Hunted is due to be published by Mulholland Books in North America (May 7th, 2024) and Harvill Secker in the UK (May 9th).

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Review copy received via NetGalley

Lauren Nossett, THE PROFESSOR (Flatiron)

On a spring afternoon in Athens, Georgia, Ethan Haddock is discovered in his apartment, dead, apparently by his own hand. His fatality immediately garners media attention: not because his death reflects the troubling increase of depression and mental health issues among college students, but because the media has caught the whiff of a scandal. His professor, Dr. Verena Sobek, has been taken in for questioning, and there are rumors his death is the result of a bad romance. A Title IX investigation is opened, the professor is suspended, and social media crusaders and trolls alike are out for blood.

Marlitt Kaplan never investigated love affairs. A former detective turned research assistant, she misses the excitement of her old job, but most of all the friendship of her partner, Teddy. When her mother, a professor at the university and colleague of the accused professor, asks for her help, she finds herself in the impossible position of proving something didn’t happen. Without the credentials to interview suspects or access phone records, she will have to get closer to a victim’s life than ever before. And she quickly finds herself in his apartment, having dinner with his roommates, even sleeping in his bed. But is she too close to see the truth?

In her relentless pursuit to uncover the mystery behind Ethan’s death, Marlitt will be forced to confront the power structures ingrained in the classroom against the backdrop of a historic campus and an institution that sometimes fails its most vulnerable members.

I really enjoyed Nossett’s debut, The Resemblance, and have been eagerly anticipating the author’s next book ever since. I’ll be reading this very soon (if I haven’t already finished it by the time this post goes live…). The Professor is out now, published by Flatiron Books in North America and in the UK.

Also on CR: Review of The Resemblance

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L. M. Sagas, CASCADE FAILURE (Tor Books)

There are only three real powers in the Spiral: the corporate power of the Trust versus the Union’s labor’s leverage. Between them the Guild tries to keep everyone’s hands above the table. It ain’t easy.

Branded a Guild deserter, Jal “accidentally” lands a ride on a Guild ship. Helmed by an AI, with a ship’s engineer/medic who doesn’t see much of a difference between the two jobs, and a “don’t make me shoot you” XO, the Guild crew of the Ambit is a little… different.

They’re also in over their heads. Responding to a distress call from an abandoned planet, they find a mass grave, and a live programmer who knows how it happened. The Trust has plans. This isn’t the first dead planet, and it’s not going to be the last.

Unless the crew of the Ambit can stop it.

The first novel in the Ambit’s Run science-fiction series. Love the cover, and it sounds like it’ll be a lot of fun. Looking forward to reading it soon. Cascade Failure is due to be published by Tor Books in North America and in the UK, on March 19th, 2024.

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Review copy received via NetGalley

George Stephanopoulos, THE SITUATION ROOM (Grand Central Publishing)

No room better defines American power and its role in the world than the White House Situation Room. And yet, none is more shrouded in secrecy and mystery. Created under President Kennedy, the Sit Room has been the epicenter of crisis management for presidents for more than six decades. Time and again, the decisions made within the Sit Room complex affect the lives of every person on this planet. Detailing close calls made and disasters narrowly averted, THE SITUATION ROOM will take readers through dramatic turning points in a dozen presidential administrations, including:

- Incredible minute-by-minute transcripts from the Sit Room after both Presidents Kennedy and Reagan were shot
- The shocking moment when Henry Kissinger raised the military alert level to DEFCON III while President Nixon was drunk in the White House residence
- The extraordinary scene when President Carter asked for help from secret government psychics to rescue American hostages in Iran
- A vivid retelling of the harrowing hours during the 9/11 attack
- New details from Obama administration officials leading up to the raid on Osama Bin Laden
- And a first-ever account of January 6th from the staff inside the Sit Room

THE SITUATION ROOM is the definitive, past-the-security-clearance look at the room where it happened, and the people — the famous and those you’ve never heard of — who have made history within its walls.

Thought this sounded interesting (US foreign policy has long been a professional and personal interest of mine). As it happens, I recently picked up Stephanopoulos’s 1999 memoir, All Too Human, which I’m also looking forward to reading soon. The Situation Room is due to be published by Grand Central Publishing in North America and in the UK, on May 14th, 2024.

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Review copy received via NetGalley

Willy Vlautin, THE HORSE (Harper)

Al Ward lives on an isolated mining claim in the high desert of central Nevada fifty miles from the nearest town. A grizzled man in his sixties, he survives on canned soup, instant coffee, and memories of his ex-wife, friends and family he’s lost, and his life as a touring musician. Hampered by insomnia, bouts of anxiety, and a chronic lethargy that keeps him from moving back to town, Al finds himself teetering on the edge of madness and running out of reasons to go on — until a horse arrives on his doorstep: nameless, blind, and utterly helpless.

Al hopes the horse will vanish as mysteriously as he appeared. Yet the animal remains, leaving him in a conundrum. Is the animal real, or a phantom conjured from imagination? As Al contemplates the horse’s existence — and what, if anything, he can do — his thoughts are interspersed with memories, from the moment his mother’s part-time boyfriend gifts him a 1959 butterscotch blonde Telecaster, to the day his travels begin. He joins various bands—all who perform his songs once they discover his talent–playing casinos, truck stops, clubs, and bars. He falls in love, and finds pockets of companionship and minor success along the way. Never close to stardom or financial success, he continues as a journeyman for decades until alcoholism and a heartbreaking tragedy lead him to the solitude of the barren Nevada desert.

Willy Vlautin is an author I’ve meant to read for a very long time. Each of his new novels sounds interesting, but I keep missing them for some reason. Maybe this one will snap that tendency/pattern. The Horse is due to be published by Harper in North America (July 30th, 2024) and Faber & Faber in the UK (May 2nd).

Follow the Author: Website, Goodreads
Review copy received via Edelweiss

Chris Wraight, SEA OF SOULS (Black Library)

Fleet Secundus marches toward the Eye of Terror, ready to strike at the heart of the Archenemy. However, a battle for survival awaits as the greater schemes of the Indomitus Crusade descend into treachery and intrigue.

The mighty fleets of the Indomitus Crusade face terrors and dangers beyond imagining. As Guilliman’s crusade marches forth, bringing the Emperor’s light to thousands of worlds, Fleet Secundus is headed for the darkest dark – the Eye of Terror itself.

Along with warriors of the Adepta Sororitas and the Adeptus Astartes, the Imperial Navy battle cruiser Judgement of the Void pushes deeper into contested space. But as their journey unfolds, the forces of Chaos close in, and a battle for survival is about to begin – one which has ramifications not just for Fleet Secundus, but for the future of the galaxy itself.

This is the seventh novel in the Dawn of Fire series — I’ve fallen a little behind on it, but I’ve enjoyed what I’ve read so far, and Wraight is a pretty safe bet for a good read. Hope to get to it relatively soon. Sea of Souls is out now, published by Black Library in North America and in the UK.

Also on CR: Reviews of Brotherhood of the Storm, The Path of Heaven, Warhawk, Valdor, The Emperor’s Legion; Dawn of Fire Series — Avenging Son (Haley), Gate of Bones (Clark), The Wolftime (Thorpe)