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Christina Applegate, author of You with the Sad Eyes: A Memoir

Christina Applegate came of age on sets and stages. What started as a financial necessity soon became an emotional escape from a tumultuous home life. She rocketed to stardom on the sitcom “Married...with Children” and went on to captivate audiences in classics like Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead, Anchorman and Dead to Me. Then it all stopped. A multiple sclerosis diagnosis in 2021 confined her to a king-sized bed and the company of memories she’d rather forget: memories of the self-doubt and body dysmorphia that stalked her meteoric rise, of her mother’s fight against addiction and abuse after her father left, and of the tax life had taken on her body and mind that was suddenly coming due. Now, at her most intimate and vulnerable, she unveils a story not even those closest to her fully know.

Elizabeth Berg, author of Life: A Love Story

As 92-year-old Florence "Flo" Greene nears the end of her life, she writes a letter to Ruthie, the woman who grew up next door to her, describing the items Flo is leaving Ruthie in her will. But as it goes on, telling surprising stories about those “little” things Flo will leave behind, an unforgettable portrait of the life she has lived emerges. The letter starts off as an autobiography in things, but it turns out to do much more than that: ultimately, it will transform Flo and those around her. In the time she has left, Flo decides to take herself up on tiny dares. As these adventures lead her to make new friends, Flo helps them find the fulfillment that living a full life has led her to understand.

Sandra Brown, author of Bloodlust

Two years ago, Detective Mitch Haskell lost his wife to a vicious act of retribution, and he has since attributed her murder to two men. Roland Malone is a ruthless executioner and drug dealer who fronts as a restaurant owner. He performs his handiwork at the biddings of Oz, the faceless kingpin of a drug trafficking operation whose name alone evokes terror. Detective John Bowie has forced Mitch to get therapy to sort himself out. Dr. Dylan Reede is immediately empathetic to the pain she senses beneath Mitch’s cavalier attitude and wisecracking. But from the moment he breezes into her office, Dylan finds it a struggle to maintain the professional and personal boundaries that keep her own tragic past at a safe distance. As Mitch begins to close in on Oz and Malone’s operation, they’re prepared to stop him by any means necessary. 

Editorial Content for A Day of Judgment: An Inspector Ian Rutledge Mystery

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Ray Palen

There aren’t many crime novels more beloved or complex than Charles Todd’s Inspector Ian Rutledge series. The biggest change in this 25th entry, A DAY OF JUDGMENT, is that our favorite World War I veteran has been promoted to the role of Chief Inspector. Read More

Teaser

July, 1921: England is suffering a heatwave, and the coast of Northumberland, just across the border from Scotland, is filled with holiday-makers bird watching and enjoying the beaches. Pilgrims also come to visit the home of Saints Cuthbert and Aiden --- the founders of Christianity in England --- located on the “Holy Island” of Lindisfarne, accessible by a causeway at low tide. When the murdered body of a local man washes ashore just south of Lindisfarne, the government and the Church of England are concerned about protecting both the reputation of the Church and the sacred sites that are a destination for hundreds of pilgrims at this time of year. With his ability to move in the highest social and political circles, Inspector Ian Rutledge is sent by Scotland Yard to solve this crime and dispel any association with the Church.

Promo

July, 1921: England is suffering a heatwave, and the coast of Northumberland, just across the border from Scotland, is filled with holiday-makers bird watching and enjoying the beaches. Pilgrims also come to visit the home of Saints Cuthbert and Aiden --- the founders of Christianity in England --- located on the “Holy Island” of Lindisfarne, accessible by a causeway at low tide. When the murdered body of a local man washes ashore just south of Lindisfarne, the government and the Church of England are concerned about protecting both the reputation of the Church and the sacred sites that are a destination for hundreds of pilgrims at this time of year. With his ability to move in the highest social and political circles, Inspector Ian Rutledge is sent by Scotland Yard to solve this crime and dispel any association with the Church.

About the Book

Inspector Ian Rutledge of Scotland Yard travels to England’s windswept coastline to investigate a murder in a place where, several years after the end of WWI, the memory of the war still runs strong.

July, 1921: England is suffering a heatwave, and the coast of Northumberland, just across the border from Scotland, is filled with holiday-makers bird watching and enjoying the beaches. Pilgrims also come to visit the home of Saints Cuthbert and Aiden --- the founders of Christianity in England --- located on the “Holy Island” of Lindisfarne, accessible by a causeway at low tide. When the murdered body of a local man washes ashore just south of Lindisfarne, the government and the Church of England are concerned about protecting both the reputation of the Church and the sacred sites that are a destination for hundreds of pilgrims at this time of year.

With his ability to move in the highest social and political circles, Inspector Ian Rutledge is sent by Scotland Yard to solve this crime and dispel any association with the Church. Upon arrival, Rutledge finds himself pulled between two coastal fishing villages, scarred by home front battles and coastal bombardment from the German Navy, where animosity towards Germany still runs high even years after the war. This, combined with a constabulary in the process of being consolidated to form a countywide police force, with local militias still wielding a great deal of power, means Rutledge must tread with care.

Facing a puzzling case and a cast of locals that don’t take kindly to outsiders, the newly promoted Rutledge meets one of the most challenging cases of his career. To solve it, he’ll also have to confront his own demons left over from his time in the war.

Audiobook available, read by Simon Vance

Editorial Content for Everyone in This Bank Is a Thief

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Kate Ayers

Let’s start by saying that Ernest Cunningham didn’t pick the best day to apply for a loan at Huxley’s Bank. And that might be because he didn’t actually select the day himself; Winston Huxley chose it for him. Read More

Teaser

I’ve spent the last few years solving murders. But a bank heist is a new one, even for me. I’ve never been a hostage before. The doors are chained shut. No one in or out. Which means that when someone in the bank is murdered, everyone is a suspect. The bank robber. The manager. The security guard. The kid. The film producer. The priest. The receptionist. The patient. The caregiver. Me. It turns out that more than one person planned to rob the bank today. You can steal more from a bank than just money. Who is stealing what? Are they willing to kill for it? And can I solve the crime before the police kick down the door and rescue us?

Promo

I’ve spent the last few years solving murders. But a bank heist is a new one, even for me. I’ve never been a hostage before. The doors are chained shut. No one in or out. Which means that when someone in the bank is murdered, everyone is a suspect. The bank robber. The manager. The security guard. The kid. The film producer. The priest. The receptionist. The patient. The caregiver. Me. It turns out that more than one person planned to rob the bank today. You can steal more from a bank than just money. Who is stealing what? Are they willing to kill for it? And can I solve the crime before the police kick down the door and rescue us?

About the Book

Ten heists. Ten suspects. A murder mystery only Ernest Cunningham can solve in this delightfully clever and twisty new novel in Benjamin Stevenson’s bestselling series --- perfect for fans of Richard Osman and Anthony Horowitz.

I’ve spent the last few years solving murders. But a bank heist is a new one, even for me. I’ve never been a hostage before.

The doors are chained shut. No one in or out. Which means that when someone in the bank is murdered, everyone is a suspect.

THE BANK ROBBER
THE MANAGER
THE SECURITY GUARD
THE KID
THE FILM PRODUCER
THE PRIEST
THE RECEPTIONIST
THE PATIENT
THE CAREGIVER
ME

It turns out that more than one person planned to rob the bank today. You can steal more from a bank than just money.

Who is stealing what? Are they willing to kill for it? And can I solve the crime before the police kick down the door and rescue us?

Audiobook available, read by Barton Welch

Editorial Content for Want to Know a Secret?

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Ray Palen

WANT TO KNOW A SECRET? introduces readers to April Masterson, an influencer whose story is going to get dangerous quickly in the hands of master plotter Freida McFadden. Read More

Teaser

Influencer and baking sensation April Masterson knows the secret to the perfect gooey brownies. Or how to make key lime squares that will melt in your mouth. But if you keep watching her offline, you may find out some other secrets about April. Secrets she'd rather you didn't know. Where did her son go when he snuck out late at night? What was she doing with the local soccer coach behind fogged windows? And what's buried in her backyard? April's secrets are enough to destroy her. I'll make sure of that.

Promo

Influencer and baking sensation April Masterson knows the secret to the perfect gooey brownies. Or how to make key lime squares that will melt in your mouth. But if you keep watching her offline, you may find out some other secrets about April. Secrets she'd rather you didn't know. Where did her son go when he snuck out late at night? What was she doing with the local soccer coach behind fogged windows? And what's buried in her backyard? April's secrets are enough to destroy her. I'll make sure of that.

About the Book

#1 New York Times bestselling author Freida McFadden peels back the layers of a seemingly flawless life to expose a picture of obsession, deception and the quiet menace that waits just beyond the frame.

Everyone has secrets. Some are worse than others.

Influencer and baking sensation April Masterson knows the secret to the perfect gooey brownies. Or how to make key lime squares that will melt in your mouth. But if you keep watching her offline, you may find out some other secrets about April. Secrets she'd rather you didn't know.

Where did her son go when he snuck out late at night? What was she doing with the local soccer coach behind fogged windows?

And what's buried in her backyard?

April's secrets are enough to destroy her.

I'll make sure of that.

Audiobook available, read by Alyson Krawchuk

Editorial Content for Stay Alive: Berlin, 1939-1945

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Lorraine W. Shanley

In his fascinating new book, STAY ALIVE, Ian Buruma says he became interested in what life was like in Berlin during World War II when he came across his father's papers and realized how many different strata there were in the city during that time. When his father refused to sign a loyalty oath, he was forced to move from the Netherlands to Germany to work in a factory. Like many others, he then had to find his own balance between survival and resistance. Read More

Teaser

In 1939, when Ian Buruma’s epic opens, Berlin has been under Nazi rule for six years, and its 4.3 million people have made their accommodations to the regime, more or less. When war broke out with Poland in September, what was most striking at first was how little changed. Unless you were Jewish. Then life, already hard, was soon to get unfathomably worse. Buruma gives tender attention to the Jewish experience in Berlin during the war, weaving its thread into the broader fabric of this marvelously rich and vivid mosaic of urban life. The distillation of a broad-gauged reckoning with a vast trove of primary sources, including a surprising number of interviews with living survivors, STAY ALIVE is a study in extremes --- depravity and resilience, moral blindness and moral courage, pious bigotry and unchecked hedonism.

Promo

In 1939, when Ian Buruma’s epic opens, Berlin has been under Nazi rule for six years, and its 4.3 million people have made their accommodations to the regime, more or less. When war broke out with Poland in September, what was most striking at first was how little changed. Unless you were Jewish. Then life, already hard, was soon to get unfathomably worse. Buruma gives tender attention to the Jewish experience in Berlin during the war, weaving its thread into the broader fabric of this marvelously rich and vivid mosaic of urban life. The distillation of a broad-gauged reckoning with a vast trove of primary sources, including a surprising number of interviews with living survivors, STAY ALIVE is a study in extremes --- depravity and resilience, moral blindness and moral courage, pious bigotry and unchecked hedonism.

About the Book

An astonishing account of life under a murderous regime amid a great city’s descent into utter annihilation.

In 1939, when Ian Buruma’s epic opens, Berlin has been under Nazi rule for six years, and its 4.3 million people have made their accommodations to the regime, more or less. When war broke out with Poland in September, what was most striking at first was how little changed. Unless you were Jewish. Then life, already hard, was soon to get unfathomably worse.

Buruma gives tender attention to the Jewish experience in Berlin during the war, weaving its thread into the broader fabric of this marvelously rich and vivid mosaic of urban life. The distillation of a broad-gauged reckoning with a vast trove of primary sources, including a surprising number of interviews with living survivors, the book is a study in extremes --- depravity and resilience, moral blindness and moral courage, pious bigotry and unchecked hedonism.

By 1943, with the German defeat at Stalingrad, ordinary life in Berlin would acquire an increasingly desperate cast. The last three years of the war in Berlin are truly a descent into hell, with a deranged regime in desperate free fall, an increasingly relentless pounding from Allied bombers, and the mounting dread of the approaching Soviet army. The common greeting of Berliners was now not “Auf wiedersehen” or “Heil Hitler” but “Bleiben Sie übrig” --- “Stay alive.” And by war’s end Berlin’s population had fallen by almost half.

Among the people trying to stay alive in the city was Ian Buruma’s own father, a Dutch student conscripted into forced labor in the war economy along with 400,000 other imported workers. Buruma gives due weight to his and their experiences, which give the book a special added dimension. This is a book full of tenderness and genuine heroism, but it is by no means sentimental: again and again we see that most people do not do the hard thing most of the time. Most people go along. It’s a lesson that has not lost its timeliness.

Audiobook available, read by Ian Buruma

Editorial Content for Strangers in the Villa

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Rebecca Munro

Robyn Harding, the internationally bestselling author of THE HATERS and THE DROWNING WOMAN, returns with STRANGERS IN THE VILLA. Set in a remote Spanish villa, this scintillating work of domestic suspense hides more than its share of secrets, especially when it comes to the couples it houses. Read More

Teaser

Sydney Lowe’s life in New York is shattered when her husband, Curtis, admits to a meaningless affair with a client. Begging for forgiveness and vowing to prove his devotion, Curtis suggests the couple retreat to a remote hilltop house in Spain to repair their marriage. High above the Mediterranean, Sydney and Curtis are working on the isolated property and their relationship when a pair of Australian travelers turns up at their door in dire need of help. Lonely for companionship and desperate for free labor, Sydney and Curtis invite the attractive young couple to stay. But as the days pass, dark secrets come to light, the Lowes’ bond is tested, and not everyone will leave the villa alive.

Promo

Sydney Lowe’s life in New York is shattered when her husband, Curtis, admits to a meaningless affair with a client. Begging for forgiveness and vowing to prove his devotion, Curtis suggests the couple retreat to a remote hilltop house in Spain to repair their marriage. High above the Mediterranean, Sydney and Curtis are working on the isolated property and their relationship when a pair of Australian travelers turns up at their door in dire need of help. Lonely for companionship and desperate for free labor, Sydney and Curtis invite the attractive young couple to stay. But as the days pass, dark secrets come to light, the Lowes’ bond is tested, and not everyone will leave the villa alive.

About the Book

From the internationally bestselling author of THE DROWNING WOMAN, a psychological thriller about a couple rocked by infidelity who moves to a villa in Spain’s Costa Brava to rebuild their relationship, only to welcome a pair of visitors who have no intention of leaving.

Sydney Lowe’s life in New York is shattered when her husband, Curtis, admits to a meaningless affair with a client. Begging for forgiveness and vowing to prove his devotion, Curtis suggests the couple retreat to a remote hilltop house in Spain to repair their marriage.

High above the Mediterranean, Sydney and Curtis are working on the isolated property and their relationship when a pair of Australian travelers turns up at their door in dire need of help. Lonely for companionship and desperate for free labor, Sydney and Curtis invite the attractive young couple to stay. But as the days pass, dark secrets come to light, the Lowes’ bond is tested, and not everyone will leave the villa alive.

Audiobook available, read by Katherine Littrell

Editorial Content for The Sisters of Book Row

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

L. Dean Murphy

Three years before women in New York could legally vote in 1918, a war in Europe entered its second year. The Applebaum sisters had inherited Arcadia Rare Bookshop from their widowed father before the Titanic’s voyage to the bottom of the sea. Olivia, the eldest at “nearly the wrong side of 24,” takes charge of her younger siblings: 20-year-old Daphne and 18-year-old Celia. In this period piece, Arcadia is located near Astor Place on Manhattan’s 4th Avenue, the historic Book Row. Read More

Teaser

1915: Manhattan’s Book Row, an eclectic jumble of 40 bookshops along Fourth Avenue, is the mecca for rare book buyers from around the world, and the haunt of locals looking for a bargain. It is also the target of the most vicious censor in American history --- Anthony Comstock --- and home to three sisters who vow to stop him. For the three Applebaum sisters, the Arcadia Rare Bookshop is the only home they’ve ever known. Unbeknownst to her older sisters, Celia has joined a group of young people who secretly print and distribute articles on women’s health by hiding them within the pages of ordinary cookbooks, household hints and sewing patterns. Meanwhile, the Comstock Laws threaten anybody who owns or circulates “obscene, lewd, or lascivious” publications. Secrets and a mysterious stranger mean that the fate of the famed Book Row is anything but secure.

Promo

1915: Manhattan’s Book Row, an eclectic jumble of 40 bookshops along Fourth Avenue, is the mecca for rare book buyers from around the world, and the haunt of locals looking for a bargain. It is also the target of the most vicious censor in American history --- Anthony Comstock --- and home to three sisters who vow to stop him. For the three Applebaum sisters, the Arcadia Rare Bookshop is the only home they’ve ever known. Unbeknownst to her older sisters, Celia has joined a group of young people who secretly print and distribute articles on women’s health by hiding them within the pages of ordinary cookbooks, household hints and sewing patterns. Meanwhile, the Comstock Laws threaten anybody who owns or circulates “obscene, lewd, or lascivious” publications. Secrets and a mysterious stranger mean that the fate of the famed Book Row is anything but secure.

About the Book

From bestselling author Shelley Noble comes a gripping and timely historical novel of books, banning, and the women who helped save New York’s famed Book Row.

1915: Manhattan’s Book Row, an eclectic jumble of 40 bookshops along Fourth Avenue, is the mecca for rare book buyers from around the world, and the haunt of locals looking for a bargain. It is also the target of the most vicious censor in American history --- Anthony Comstock.

And home to three sisters who vow to stop him.

For the three Applebaum sisters, the narrow, four-storied Arcadia Rare Bookshop is the only home they’ve ever known. Olivia, the oldest, is an expert in restoring rare manuscripts. Daphne, the outgoing middle sister, oversees the retail shop and is a favorite with their customers. Celia, the youngest, is left to dust and catalogue, but often sneaks out to do heaven knows what. Little do her sisters know, Celia has joined a group of young people who secretly print and distribute articles on women’s health by hiding them within the pages of ordinary cookbooks, household hints, and sewing patterns, despite the personal risk.

Meanwhile, the Comstock Laws threaten anybody who owns or circulates “obscene, lewd, or lascivious” publications. Even classic literature or fine art could send a person to jail. In the face of such oppression, Celia and the booksellers of Book Row band together. But secrets and a mysterious stranger mean the fate of the famed Book Row is anything but secure.

Audiobook available, read by Caroline Hewitt 

Editorial Content for Ruby Falls

Book

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Norah Piehl

In 2017, I read Gin Phillips' novel, FIERCE KINGDOM, which was about a woman and her child trying to survive in a zoo during an active shooter situation. I primarily listened to the audiobook while I was training for a long-distance race. Maybe the fact that I was doing my runs in the predawn hours by myself on the edge of town escalated the tension, but it's certain that Phillips' unique premise and suspenseful writing amped up my heart rate even more than it would have been otherwise. Read More

Teaser

In 1928, a Chattanooga man disappears down a hole in the ground and discovers a 150-foot waterfall in the middle of a mountain that he names after his wife: Ruby Falls. Within months, visitors can buy tickets to see the falls for themselves. Ada Smith has been sneaking into the caves at night, entranced by the natural wonders around her. As the country flounders in the Great Depression, a shrewd public relations ploy seems like the only way to save Ruby Falls. A famous mind reader and mystic agrees to launch himself into the Ruby Falls caverns where he will attempt to locate a hidden hatpin using only his psychic abilities. Ada and another guide, Quinton, have been asked to follow the mind reader’s party at a distance, staying out of sight. One of them will be dead before the end of the day.

Promo

In 1928, a Chattanooga man disappears down a hole in the ground and discovers a 150-foot waterfall in the middle of a mountain that he names after his wife: Ruby Falls. Within months, visitors can buy tickets to see the falls for themselves. Ada Smith has been sneaking into the caves at night, entranced by the natural wonders around her. As the country flounders in the Great Depression, a shrewd public relations ploy seems like the only way to save Ruby Falls. A famous mind reader and mystic agrees to launch himself into the Ruby Falls caverns where he will attempt to locate a hidden hatpin using only his psychic abilities. Ada and another guide, Quinton, have been asked to follow the mind reader’s party at a distance, staying out of sight. One of them will be dead before the end of the day.

About the Book

One body. Five suspects. Total darkness.

A tense, claustrophobic historical mystery set almost entirely underground at the onset of the Great Depression about the discovery of a 150-foot waterfall in the middle of a mountain, the unthinkable crime that happens in its caves, and a woman who’s never felt more alive.   

In 1928, a Chattanooga man disappears down a hole in the ground and discovers a 150-foot waterfall in the middle of a mountain that he names after his wife: Ruby Falls. Within months, visitors can buy tickets to see the falls for themselves. Ada Smith has been sneaking into the caves at night, entranced by the natural wonders around her and the freedom granted by this new underground world.

But it’s tough timing for a natural wonder. As the country flounders in the Great Depression, a shrewd public relations ploy seems like the only way to save Ruby Falls. A famous mind reader and mystic agrees to launch himself into the Ruby Falls caverns where he will attempt to locate a hidden hatpin using only his psychic abilities. He'll be joined by five others: his manager, his wife, a guide, a Chattanooga businessman, and a reporter from the Chicago Times. But they’re not alone in the caverns. Ada and another guide, Quinton, have been asked to follow the mind reader’s party at a distance, staying out of sight. They are a safety net, in case of a broken leg or busted flashlights.

One of them will be dead before the end of the day.

Faced with a corpse and the stark reality that one of the people in her midst is a killer, Ada needs to get everyone --- the murderer and the innocents --- back aboveground before their light runs out.

RUBY FALLS is both a unique twist on the locked-room mystery and an exploration of loss and what it means to start over. It’s a heart-racing story of survival and a testament to the threads that bind strangers together. Set against the true story of the discovery of Ruby Falls, the novel also draws on the memoirs of Katie Stabler, a female guide at Wind Caves in South Dakota.

Audiobook available, read by Cassandra Campbell and Jacques Roy