It’s the last week of 2017, and with most people still recovering from the holidays, there are only a handful of notable releases this week. We do get 2 exciting mystery/suspense tales, a couple of memorable romances, and 1 non-fiction entry advocating for the power of meditation.
MYSTERY & SUSPENSE
The Wanted by Robert Crais
When single mother Devon Connor hires private investigator Elvis Cole, it’s because her troubled teenage son Tyson is flashing cash and she’s afraid he’s dealing drugs. But the truth is devastatingly different. With two other partners in crime, he’s been responsible for a string of high-end burglaries, a crime spree that takes a deadly turn when one of them is murdered and Tyson and his girlfriend disappear.
They stole the wrong thing from the wrong man. Determined to get it back, he has hired a team that is smart and brutal, and to even the odds, Cole calls in his friends Joe Pike and Jon Stone. But even they may be overmatched. The hired killers are leaving a trail of bodies in their wake. A few more won’t make any difference.
Description from Goodreads.
“Among West Coast mystery writers, none is more reliable than Crais, who is in excellent form here….In his 21st book, Los Angeles ace Crais extends his streak of sharp, enjoyable thrillers.” – Kirkus Reviews
“The empathic Elvis takes center stage, with just enough hard-boiled Pike to season the mayhem…expertly crafted.” – Publishers Weekly
Available Formats:
Death at Nuremberg by W.E.B. Griffin & William E. Butterworth IV
When Jim Cronley hears he’s just won the Legion of Merit, he figures there’s another shoe to drop, and it’s a big one: he’s out as Chief, DCI-Europe. His new assignments, however, couldn’t be bigger: to protect the U.S. chief prosecutor in the Nuremberg trials from a rumored Soviet NKGB kidnapping, and to hunt down and dismantle the infamous Odessa, an organization dedicated to helping Nazi war criminals escape to South America.
It doesn’t take long for the first attempt on his life, and then the second. NKGB or Odessa? Who can tell? The deeper he pushes, the more secrets tumble out: a scheme to swap Nazi gold for currency, a religious cult organized around Himmler himself, an NKGB agent who is actually working for the Mossad, a German cousin who turns out to be more malevolent than he appears–and a distractingly attractive newspaperwoman who seems to be asking an awful lot of questions.
Which one will turn out to be the most dangerous? Cronley wishes he knew.
Description from Goodreads.
“An excellent series. The period between WWII and the Cold War offers raw material for several books, and as fans of Griffin’s body of work are well aware, he really sinks his teeth into politics and history.” – Booklist
Available Formats:
ROMANCE
Firefly Cove by Davis Bunn
I have this, Lucius thought to himself. I have today.
Since the age of seven, Lucius Quarterfield has known he is dying. Doctors told him he had a “bad ticker” and might not live to see his next birthday. But somehow, the frail yet determined boy managed to hang on and surprise everyone. The bullies who teased him. The family who neglected him. The professionals who offered little hope for a normal life. To their surprise, Lucius not only survived to adulthood, he thrived, turning a small car dealership into a successful chain. But now, at twenty-eight, his time is finally running out. So he’s returning to the one place he ever felt happy, near the only woman he ever truly wanted–the California seaside town of Miramar Bay…
Was it so much to ask, a healthy tomorrow shared with a woman he loved?
Jessica was the only daughter of the only dentist in town. An ardent reader and fan of Jane Austen, she was able to follow in her father’s footsteps, as he desired. But Jessica preferred the simple things in life–a trait that captivated Lucius from the moment he arrived in town on business. Her carefree approach to living and playful, quick wit were a breath of fresh air to a man who devoted all his time to work. They were complete opposites and perfect complements. Soon they were falling head over heels–until Lucius pulled away, to spare her the pain of his inevitable fate. Now, after all this time, he won’t put her through that again. His days are numbered. And whatever happens–with Jessica or anyone sharing his journey–he’s going to make each moment count. Because he knows that everything is about to change . . . he just can’t know exactly how.
Warm-hearted, wise, and wonderfully moving, Firefly Cove is a powerful novel of first love and second chances that will live in readers’ hearts for years to come.
Description from Goodreads.
“Delightful and magical….This novel is heartwarming from start to finish. Lucius is a wonderful character; his personality shines on each page and begs readers to get to know him better….This tale is feel-good all the way through; a story of not giving up and of getting a second chance at love…and life.” – RT Book Reviews
“Fans of Kate Morton and Liane Moriarty will enjoy how this warm and well-crafted novel explores the limits of human understanding, acceptance, and imagination.” – Booklist
Available Formats:
Now That You Mention It by Kristan Higgins
One step forward. Two steps back. The Tufts scholarship that put Nora Stuart on the path to becoming a Boston medical specialist was a step forward. Being hit by a car and then overhearing her boyfriend hit on another doctor when she thought she was dying? Two major steps back.
Injured in more ways than one, Nora feels her carefully built life cracking at the edges. There’s only one place to land: home. But the tiny Maine community she left fifteen years ago doesn’t necessarily want her. At every turn, someone holds the prodigal daughter of Scupper Island responsible for small-town drama and big-time disappointments.
With a tough islander mother who’s always been distant and a wild-child sister in jail, unable to raise her daughter–a withdrawn teen as eager to ditch the island as Nora once was–Nora has her work cut out for her if she’s going to take what might be her last chance to mend the family.
But as some relationships crumble around her, others unexpectedly strengthen. Balancing loss and opportunity, a dark event from her past with hope for the future, Nora will discover that tackling old pain makes room for promise…and the chance to begin again.
Description from Goodreads.
“Balancing emotion, humor, and a redemptive theme, Higgins hits all the right notes with precision, perception, and panache.” – Kirkus Reviews STARRED REVIEW
“…a gift, and one I would encourage you to indulge in quickly.” – All About Romance
Available Formats:
NON-FICTION
Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics: A 10% Happier How-to Book by Dan Harris, Jeff Warren, & Carlyle Adler
ABC News anchor Dan Harris used to think that meditation was for people who collect crystals, play Ultimate Frisbee, and use the word “namaste” without irony. After he had a panic attack on live television, he went on a strange and circuitous journey that ultimately led him to become one of meditation’s most vocal public proponents.
Here’s what he’s fixated on now: Science suggests that meditation can lower blood pressure, mitigate depression and anxiety, and literally rewire key parts of the brain, among numerous other benefits. And yet there are millions of people who want to meditate but aren’t actually practicing. What’s holding them back?
In Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics, Harris and his friend Jeff Warren, a masterful teacher and “Meditation MacGyver,” embark on a cross-country quest to tackle the myths, misconceptions, and self-deceptions that stop people from meditating. They rent a rock-star tour bus (whose previous occupants were Parliament Funkadelic) and travel across eighteen states, talking to scores of would-be meditators—including parents, military cadets, police officers, and even a few celebrities. They create a taxonomy of the most common issues (“I suck at this,” “I don’t have the time,” etc.) and offer up science-based life hacks to help people overcome them.
The book is filled with game-changing and deeply practical meditation instructions. You’ll also get access to the 10% Happier app, where you can listen for free to guided audio versions of all the meditations in the book. Amid it all unspools the strange and hilarious story of what happens when a congenitally sarcastic, type-A journalist and a groovy Canadian mystic embark on an epic road trip into America’s neurotic underbelly, as well as their own.
Description from Goodreads.
“Part romp, part travelogue, part meditation manual, Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics takes us along for the journey as Dan Harris and meditation teacher Jeff Warren traverse the country. We discover meditating police officers, moms, media figures, and the meditator on the street (literally, as they open a pop-up meditation booth). Dan discovers some things about himself as well. This book is fun, instructive, timely, and immensely helpful.” – Sharon Salzberg, author of Real Happiness and Real Love
“If your mind has a mind of its own, this is the book for you! With humor, generosity, and devastating candor, Dan Harris makes meditation make sense. This is news we can all use.” – Mark Epstein, MD, author of Advice Not Given: A Guide to Getting Over Yourself and Going to Pieces Without Falling Apart