I stumbled across The Book of Doors on NetGalley. It’s Gareth Brown‘s debut novel, and the synopsis caught my attention (later, so did the UK cover). It’s probably not surprising that “strange things are afoot at a bookstore” is a premise that would grab my attention. Due out in February, here’s the synopsis:
Cassie Andrews works in a New York City bookshop, shelving books, making coffee for customers, and living an unassuming, ordinary life. Until the day one of her favorite customers — a lonely yet charming old man — dies right in front of her. Cassie is devastated. She always loved his stories, and now she has nothing to remember him by. Nothing but the last book he was reading.
But this is no ordinary book…
It is the Book of Doors.
Inscribed with enigmatic words and mysterious drawings, it promises Cassie that any door is every door. You just need to know how to open them.
Then she’s approached by a gaunt stranger in a rumpled black suit with a Scottish brogue who calls himself Drummond Fox. He’s a librarian who keeps watch over a unique set of rare volumes. The tome now in Cassie’s possession is not the only book with great power, but it is the one most coveted by those who collect them.
Now Cassie is being hunted by those few who know of the Special Books. With only her roommate Izzy to confide in, she has to decide if she will help the mysterious and haunted Drummond protect the Book of Doors — and the other books in his secret library’s care — from those who will do evil. Because only Drummond knows where the unique library is and only Cassie’s book can get them there.
But there are those willing to kill to obtain those secrets. And a dark force — in the form of a shadowy, sadistic woman — is at the very top of that list.
Really looking forward to this.
Gareth Brown’s The Book of Doors is due to be published by William Morrow in North America (February 13th) and Bantam/Transworld in the UK (February 15th).
Today, we have an excerpt from When We Were Enemies by Wall Street Journal best-selling author Emily Bleeker. A story about families, legacies, and the long impact of secrets, set in the present day and also during World War 2. Here’s the synopsis:
Pitoniak’s engaging, gripping first foray into espionage fiction
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Professor Jason Fitger returns for another academic misadventure
It’s always interesting to see how a smash-hit book can spur the rise of a mini-genre, and there’s no denying that Taylor Jenkins-Reid’s 
An excellent novel about the lives, loves, and secrets that make up a small town community
