“Hope
Smiles from the threshold of the year to come,
Whispering ‘it will be happier’…” – Alfred Lord Tennyson
Anna O by Matthew Blake
fiction / suspense / mystery.
What if your nightmares weren’t really nightmares at all?
We spend an average of 33 years of our lives asleep. But what really happens, and what are we capable of, when we sleep?
Anna Ogilvy was a budding twenty-five-year-old writer with a bright future. Then, one night, she stabbed two people to death with no apparent motive—and hasn’t woken up since. Dubbed “Sleeping Beauty” by the tabloids, Anna’s condition is a rare psychosomatic disorder known to neurologists as “resignation syndrome.”
Dr. Benedict Prince is a forensic psychologist and an expert in the field of sleep-related homicides. His methods are the last hope of solving the infamous “Anna O”case and waking Anna up so she can stand trial. But he must be careful treating such a high-profile suspect—he’s got career secrets and a complicated personal life of his own.
As Anna shows the first signs of stirring, Benedict must determine what really happened and whether Anna should be held responsible for her crimes.
Only Anna knows the truth about that night, but only Benedict knows how to discover it. And they’re both in danger from what they find out.
“This is the most inventive thriller I’ve read in a while.” – Rani Birchfield, Indie Next
“Layered and grandly operatic in scope and tension… Once you pick it up, there’s no putting it down.” – Kirkus Reviews, STARRED REVIEW
“…devilishly twisty… Blake never lets the reader, or his hero, get comfortable, delivering one game-changing twist after another all the way through to the final sucker punch. The exhilarating results are likely to shock even seasoned thriller fans.” – Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW
First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston
fiction / suspense / mystery.
The identity comes to Evie Porter. Once she’s given a name and location by her mysterious boss Mr. Smith, she learns everything there is to know about the town and the people in it. Then the target: Ryan Sumner. The last piece of the puzzle is the job.
Evie isn’t privy to Mr. Smith’s real identity, but she knows this job will be different. Ryan has gotten under her skin, and she’s starting to envision a different sort of life for herself. But Evie can’t make any mistakes–especially after what happened last time.
Because the one thing she’s worked her entire life to keep clean, the one identity she could always go back to—her real identity—just walked right into this town. Evie Porter must stay one step ahead of her past while making sure there’s still a future in front of her. The stakes couldn’t be higher–but then, Evie has always liked a challenge…
“If you love a juicy cat-and-mouse story, First Lie Wins will hook you from the very first chapter.” – Leandra Beabout, Reader’s Digest
“…ingeniously plotted… Elston whips up plenty of suspense and delivers a satisfyingly serpentine finale. This promises more good things from Elston to come.” – Publishers Weekly
“Evie is a delightfully morally ambiguous antiheroine whose ability to think on her feet results in a relentless array of shocking twists that lead to a satisfying ending.” – Nanette Donohue, Booklist
The Lost Van Gogh by Jonathan Santlofer
fiction / mystery / suspense / historical fiction.
For years, there have been whispers that, before his death, Van Gogh completed a final self-portrait. Curators and art historians have savored this rumor, hoping it could illuminate some of the troubled artist’s many secrets, but even they have to concede that the missing painting is likely lost forever.
But when Luke Perrone, artist and great-grandson of the man who stole the Mona Lisa, and Alexis Verde, daughter of a notorious art thief, discover what may be the missing portrait, they are drawn into a most epic art puzzle. When only days later the painting disappears again, they are reunited with INTERPOL agent John Washington Smith in a dangerous and deadly search that will not only expose secrets of the artist’s last days but draw them into one of history’s darkest eras.
Beneath the paint and canvas, beneath the beauty and the legend, the artwork has become linked with something evil, something that continues to flourish on the dark web and on the shadiest corridors of the underground art world.
Alternating between Luke Perrone’s perilous hunt for the painting, and a history of stolen art and stolen lives, The Lost Van Gogh is an intricately layered historical thriller perfect for fans of The Last Mona Lisa and The Night Portrait.
“Illustrated with Santlofer’s drawings, this is a wholly engrossing, historically illuminating, and thought-provoking art thriller.” – Donna Seaman, Booklist
“Beauty and horror are wonderfully contrasted by Santlofer, both in the sad life of van Gogh compared to the incandescent art he produced, and in the clash of the love of art and the pursuit of wealth that takes advantage of that passion. Details of post-impressionist art and busting of myths around van Gogh (he wasn’t unknown as an artist during his life) are bonuses.” – Henrietta Thornton, First Clue
Mercury by Amy Jo Burns
fiction.
It’s 1990 and seventeen-year-old Marley West is blazing into the river valley town of Mercury, Pennsylvania. A perpetual loner, she seeks a place at someone’s table and a family of her own. The first thing she sees when she arrives in town is three men standing on a rooftop. Their silhouettes blot out the sun.
The Joseph brothers become Marley’s whole world before she can blink. Soon, she is young wife to one, The One Who Got Away to another, and adopted mother to them all. As their own mother fades away and their roofing business crumbles under the weight of their unwieldy father’s inflated ego, Marley steps in to shepherd these unruly men. Years later, an eerie discovery in the church attic causes old wounds to resurface and suddenly the family’s survival hangs in the balance. With Marley as their light, the Joseph brothers must decide whether they can save the family they’ve always known—or whether together they can build something stronger in its place.
“An extraordinary novel!… [a] lyrically written, unputdownable story…” – Anderson McKean, Indie Next
“Though there’s a large cast, Burns brings depth and insight to each member. Well-drawn, engaging characters and a vivid setting make this is a compelling study of family dynamics.” – Kirkus Reviews
“With clear, luminous prose, able to plumb the complementary and contrasting depths of masculine and feminine energy, emotion, and ambition, Mercury is a delight.” – Stephanie Turza, Booklist
Rabbit Hole by Kate Brody
fiction / mystery / suspense.
Ten years ago, Theodora “Teddy” Angstrom’s older sister, Angie, went missing. Her case remains unsolved. Now Teddy’s father, Mark, has killed himself. Unbeknownst to Mark’s family, he had been active in a Reddit community fixated on Angie, and Teddy can’t help but fall down the same rabbit hole.
Teddy’s investigation quickly gets her in hot water with her gun-nut boyfriend, her long-lost half-brother, and her colleagues at the prestigious high school where she teaches English. Further complicating matters is Teddy’s growing obsession with Mickey, a charming amateur sleuth who is eerily keen on helping her solve the case.
Bewitched by Mickey, Teddy begins to lose her moral compass. As she struggles to reconcile new information with old memories, her erratic behavior reaches a fever pitch, but she won’t stop until she finds Angie—or destroys herself in the process.
A biting critique of the internet’s voyeurism, Rabbit Hole is an outrageous and heart-wrenching character study of a mind twisted by grief—and a page-turning mystery that’s as addictive as a late-night Reddit binge.
“It takes true crime fandom and turns it on its head in this page-turning binge that will shock and awe you.” – Adam Vitcavage, Debutiful
“Brody’s sure-footed debut paints a harrowing portrait of a life derailed by internet conspiracy theories… For genre fans who don’t mind loose ends, this is worth the plunge.” – Publishers Weekly
“Brody’s debut is visceral and at times gut-wrenching, exploring the ways grief and a need for answers can be exacerbated and exploited by a culture obsessed with true-crime stories. Powerful and unforgettable.” – Kristine Huntley, Booklist
The Storm We Made by Vanessa Chan ★
fiction / historical fiction.
Malaya, 1945. Cecily Alcantara’s family is in terrible danger: her fifteen-year-old son, Abel, has disappeared, and her youngest daughter, Jasmin, is confined in a basement to prevent being pressed into service at the comfort stations. Her eldest daughter Jujube, who works at a tea house frequented by drunk Japanese soldiers, becomes angrier by the day.
Cecily knows two things: that this is all her fault; and that her family must never learn the truth.
A decade prior, Cecily had been desperate to be more than a housewife to a low-level bureaucrat in British-colonized Malaya. A chance meeting with the charismatic General Fuijwara lured her into a life of espionage, pursuing dreams of an “Asia for Asians.” Instead, Cecily helped usher in an even more brutal occupation by the Japanese. Ten years later as the war reaches its apex, her actions have caught up with her. Now her family is on the brink of destruction—and she will do anything to save them.
Spanning years of pain and triumph, told from the perspectives of four unforgettable characters, The Storm We Made is a dazzling saga about the horrors of war; the fraught relationships between the colonized and their oppressors, and the ambiguity of right and wrong when survival is at stake.
“…refreshing [and] gripping… Told by four deeply real characters, you’ll find yourself rooting for them even as they butt up against the limits of right and wrong.” – Lizz Schumer, Good Housekeeping
“This is historical fiction at its most sweeping and heartbreaking…” – Leandra Beabout, Reader’s Digest
“In her captivating debut, Chan unleashes a perfect storm of beauty, devastation, secrets, and success… This should be every reader’s first book of 2024. Everyone I know who has read it has been flabbergasted by its brilliance.” – Adam Vitcavage, Debutiful
“A chilling exploration of the costs of human weakness and desire, in a compelling and vividly wrought historical context.” – Kirkus Reviews
That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon by Kimberly Lemming
fiction / fantasy / romance.
All she wanted to do was live her life in peace—maybe get a cat, expand the family spice farm. Really, anything that didn’t involve going on an adventure where an orc might rip her face off. But they say the goddess has favorites, and if so, Cin is clearly not one of them.
After Cin saves the demon Fallon in a wine-drunk stupor, Fallon reveals that all he really wants to do is kill an evil witch enslaving his people. And who can blame him? But now he’s dragging Cinnamon along for the ride whether she likes it or not. On the bright side, at least he keeps burning off his shirt…
“…laugh-out-loud funny with sass and banter for miles. If you’re in the mood for a sexy, light read, this is it… such a fun romantasy world.” – Chelsea Semonco, Indie Next
“Hilarious banter, cheeky anachronisms, and hot and heavy lovemaking punctuate this full-throttle adventure. It’s good fun.” – Publishers Weekly
“This a serious fantasy quest that doesn’t take itself so seriously and is perfect for readers who love Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree and Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea by Rebecca Thorne, but who wish that the romances at the heart of those cozy fantasies had been considerably more explicit.” – Marlene Harris, Library Journal
Wild and Distant Seas by Tara Karr Roberts
fiction / historical fiction.
Evangeline Hussey has made a home for herself on Nantucket, though she knows she is still an outsider to the island’s small, close-knit community, one that by 1849 has started to feel the decline of a once-thriving whaling industry. Her husband, Hosea, and the life they built together, was once all she needed—but now Hosea is gone, lost at sea. Evangeline is only able to hold on to his inn, and her place on the island, by employing a curious gift to glimpse and re-form the recent memories of those who would cast her out.
One night, an idealistic sailor appears on her doorstep asking her to call him Ishmael. He seeks only a warm bed and a bowl of chowder, and yet suddenly, unsettlingly, her careful illusion begins to fracture. He soon sails away with Ahab to hunt an infamous white whale, and Evangeline is left to forge a new life from the pieces that remain.
Her choices ripple through generations, across continents, and into the depths of the sea, in a narrative that follows Evangeline and her descendants from mid-nineteenth century Nantucket to Boston, Brazil, Florence, and Idaho. Moving, beautifully written, and elegantly conceived, Wild and Distant Seas takes Moby-Dick as its starting point, but Tara Karr Roberts brings four remarkable women to life in a spellbinding epic all her own.
“[A] stunning debut… Roberts writes with confidence and dynamic range, mixing earthy details of dead fish and whale oil with sublime descriptions of the women’s psychic abilities (Evangeline sees others’ recent memories as ‘fresh and soft as paint on a canvas not yet dried’). This is beautiful.” – Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW
“[A] gorgeous, character-driven narrative that is part retelling and part wholly original historical fiction. With a massive scope and a sprinkle of magic, this is ideal for fans of The Essex Serpent and Great Circle.” – Barnes & Noble
“The magic is subtle, woven seamlessly into the narrative, so it does not feel out of place in this otherwise traditional work of historical fiction. Each woman’s story builds to a beautiful conclusion, and the themes of love, motherhood, and the quest to find one’s purpose in life resonate throughout.” – Patricia Smith, Booklist
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