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Editorial Content for Where the Road Ends: A Jonathan Stride Novel

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Ray Palen

Everything that Brian Freeman touches turns to gold. My favorite series of his is set in Duluth, Minnesota, and features Homicide Lieutenant Jonathan Stride. Read More

Teaser

Jonathan Stride's partner, Maggie Bei, is driving home after midnight when a call comes in: shots fired at the home of a Duluth judge. Moments later, she finds Gordon and Tracy Hartwick murdered in their bed. But someone is hiding in the judge's house, and as Maggie lays chase, she's forced to make a split-second decision that leaves the intruder dead. When Stride arrives at the scene, he has to give Maggie devastating news. The intruder had no gun. He wasn't the killer. She shot an innocent man. With Maggie facing a firestorm over her actions, Stride must discover who really killed Gordon and Tracy Hartwick --- and what secrets they were hiding that put them in the gunsights of a murderer.

Promo

Jonathan Stride's partner, Maggie Bei, is driving home after midnight when a call comes in: shots fired at the home of a Duluth judge. Moments later, she finds Gordon and Tracy Hartwick murdered in their bed. But someone is hiding in the judge's house, and as Maggie lays chase, she's forced to make a split-second decision that leaves the intruder dead. When Stride arrives at the scene, he has to give Maggie devastating news. The intruder had no gun. He wasn't the killer. She shot an innocent man. With Maggie facing a firestorm over her actions, Stride must discover who really killed Gordon and Tracy Hartwick --- and what secrets they were hiding that put them in the gunsights of a murderer.

About the Book

The murder of a judge and his wife turns Jonathan Stride's world upside down and leaves him facing a shocking crossroad in this electrifying mystery from New York Times bestselling author Brian Freeman.

Jonathan Stride's partner, Maggie Bei, is driving home after midnight when a call comes in: shots fired at the home of a Duluth judge.

Moments later, she finds Gordon and Tracy Hartwick murdered in their bed. But someone is hiding in the judge's house, and as Maggie lays chase, she's forced to make a split-second decision that leaves the intruder dead.

When Stride arrives at the scene, he has to give Maggie devastating news. The intruder had no gun. He wasn't the killer. She shot an innocent man.

With Maggie facing a firestorm over her actions, Stride must discover who really killed Gordon and Tracy Hartwick --- and what secrets they were hiding that put them in the gunsights of a murderer. The shattering finale will change Stride's world in ways he can't imagine and leave everyone he loves asking the same question: When you reach the end of the road, where do you go from there?

Audiobook available, read by January LaVoy

Editorial Content for Fair Ones: A Double Novel

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Sarah Rachel Egelman

Lydia Millet’s FAIR ONES is described as a “double novel,” but it is hard to imagine one half of this book without the other. Perhaps that is the point, actually. The two halves, two perspectives on the same loss but different responses to it, need each other for sense and clarity, for stability and meaning, even though they are, technically, distinct.  Read More

Teaser

FAIR ONES follows two Brooklyn women in their 40s who are reeling from the sudden and baffling death of their friend, Claire. Fair, Mara’s account, opens in the wake of initial shock as she and Jen come to grips with the enigma of Claire’s killing. Ones, told from Jen’s point of view, picks up a year later as she and Mara wrestle with new relationships and old secrets. In this vibrant, funny-sad fiction of companionship and solitude, the narrators’ inner and outer conversations, and their ongoing entanglement with the memory of Claire, explore the ways we create and define ourselves through others. 

Promo

FAIR ONES follows two Brooklyn women in their 40s who are reeling from the sudden and baffling death of their friend, Claire. Fair, Mara’s account, opens in the wake of initial shock as she and Jen come to grips with the enigma of Claire’s killing. Ones, told from Jen’s point of view, picks up a year later as she and Mara wrestle with new relationships and old secrets. In this vibrant, funny-sad fiction of companionship and solitude, the narrators’ inner and outer conversations, and their ongoing entanglement with the memory of Claire, explore the ways we create and define ourselves through others. 

About the Book

From the bestselling author of A CHILDREN'S BIBLE, a story of friends, shock and survival.

Lydia Millet’s dialogue-driven, fast-moving double novel, FAIR ONES, follows two Brooklyn women in their 40s who are reeling from the sudden and baffling death of their friend, Claire. Fair, Mara’s account, opens in the wake of initial shock as she and Jen come to grips with the enigma of Claire’s killing. Ones, told from Jen’s point of view, picks up a year later as she and Mara wrestle with new relationships and old secrets.

In this vibrant, funny-sad fiction of companionship and solitude, Millet dazzles with dry wit and sharp prose. The narrators’ inner and outer conversations, and their ongoing entanglement with the memory of Claire, explore the ways we create and define ourselves through others. FAIR ONES is a love song to the intricate annoyances of families both chosen and unchosen --- and to the banality, bombast and humble beauties of midlife friendships.

Audiobook available, read by Devon Sorvari 

Editorial Content for Solace House

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Megan Elliott

A college student’s summer gig takes a dark turn in Will Maclean’s mind-bending fever dream of a novel, SOLACE HOUSE.  Read More

Teaser

For Alex Lane’s wealthy university friends, the summer break stretches out before them. But for Alex, broke as usual, going home is not an option. So when the university offers him an unusual summer job clearing out a dilapidated Victorian mansion, Solace House, he jumps at the chance. Alex joins an unlikely crew of students and is particularly drawn to mercurial, red-headed Ella. As the students begin sorting through piles of old newspapers and magazines, dusty antiques and esoteric junk, Alex and Ella become enthralled by the elaborate and eerie journals of the house’s former owner, Edwin Flayne. As the students gradually uncover the house’s secrets, the rift between those who want to delve further and those who believe they’ve already gone too far grows ever wider.

Promo

For Alex Lane’s wealthy university friends, the summer break stretches out before them. But for Alex, broke as usual, going home is not an option. So when the university offers him an unusual summer job clearing out a dilapidated Victorian mansion, Solace House, he jumps at the chance. Alex joins an unlikely crew of students and is particularly drawn to mercurial, red-headed Ella. As the students begin sorting through piles of old newspapers and magazines, dusty antiques and esoteric junk, Alex and Ella become enthralled by the elaborate and eerie journals of the house’s former owner, Edwin Flayne. As the students gradually uncover the house’s secrets, the rift between those who want to delve further and those who believe they’ve already gone too far grows ever wider.

About the Book

You are about to enter a place of strange genius, possible madness, and timeless love.

An addictive and brilliant puzzle box of a novel following a group of university students who discover an astonishing secret while clearing out a neglected Victorian mansion.

For Alex Lane’s wealthy university friends, the summer break stretches out before them, full of promise and fabulous plans. But for Alex, broke as usual, going home is not an option. So when the university offers him an unusual summer job clearing out a dilapidated Victorian mansion, Solace House, he jumps at the chance.

Alex joins an unlikely crew of students, from stoner Clive to uptight, short-tempered Helen, and the extremely peculiar Adam. Alex is particularly drawn to mercurial, red-headed Ella, and as the students begin sorting through piles of old newspapers and magazines, dusty antiques and esoteric junk, Alex and Ella become enthralled by the elaborate and eerie journals of the house’s former owner, Edwin Flayne. In these diaries, Flayne details his obsession with his missing mother and his belief in a mysterious realm lying parallel to ours, along with coded instructions on how it might be reached.

As the students gradually uncover the house’s secrets, the rift between those who want to delve further and those who believe they’ve already gone too far grows ever wider.

Audiobook available, read by Sebastian Humphreys and Greg Wagland

Editorial Content for Raven

Book

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Ray Palen

Lyndsay Faye, who is a huge admirer of Edgar Allan Poe, has produced a gothic horror tale that pays homage to the master via a character named Raven, whose surname is Allan. Read More

Teaser

After an itinerant childhood spent first with her mother’s traveling theater troupe and then being passed around from relative to relative, Raven Helen Allan is relieved to finally settle down with Aunt Berenice in her Baltimore townhouse. But when the household is threatened with financial ruin, she must set out to earn her own living. Taking a job as a paid companion, Raven arrives at the crumbling Moldavia Manor. Her charge is a delicate young invalid named Lenore Legrand, who haunts the Gothic structure like a phantom. Living with them is Lenore’s devoted older cousin, Trevanion, who shares Raven’s interest in the occult and devotes his days to searching ancient texts for an Elixir of Life that might cure his cousin. Raven finds herself inexorably drawn to both cousins, as well as to the secrets hidden in the shadows of Moldavia Manor.

Promo

After an itinerant childhood spent first with her mother’s traveling theater troupe and then being passed around from relative to relative, Raven Helen Allan is relieved to finally settle down with Aunt Berenice in her Baltimore townhouse. But when the household is threatened with financial ruin, she must set out to earn her own living. Taking a job as a paid companion, Raven arrives at the crumbling Moldavia Manor. Her charge is a delicate young invalid named Lenore Legrand, who haunts the Gothic structure like a phantom. Living with them is Lenore’s devoted older cousin, Trevanion, who shares Raven’s interest in the occult and devotes his days to searching ancient texts for an Elixir of Life that might cure his cousin. Raven finds herself inexorably drawn to both cousins, as well as to the secrets hidden in the shadows of Moldavia Manor.

About the Book

An orphaned young woman in antebellum Maryland is pulled into a maelstrom of passion, pain and occult power in this Gothic homage to the life and works of Edgar Allan Poe.

I died a fortnight ago this coming Thursday. It was a terrifically unpleasant experience—being murdered, I mean to say.

Raven Helen Allan has always been haunted by witchcraft. Since the death of her beloved mother, she has soothed herself by speaking words into spells --- a proclivity enhanced by time spent with her aunt’s library of occult books. She also finds a self-destructive solace in transmuting the pain in her heart onto her flesh.

After an itinerant childhood spent first with her mother’s traveling theater troupe and then being passed around from relative to relative, Raven is relieved to finally settle down with Aunt Berenice in her Baltimore townhouse --- even if her aunt spends most evenings in a laudanum haze. There she finds a long-sought sense of belonging with the family of enslaved workers in her aunt’s household, especially the brilliantly odd youngest daughter Pym. Raven’s infatuation with her friend only grows more intimate as the girls become women together. But when the household is threatened with financial ruin, Raven must set out to earn her own living.

Taking a job as a paid companion, Raven arrives at the crumbling Moldavia Manor. Her charge is a delicate young invalid named Lenore Legrand, who haunts the Gothic structure like a phantom. Living with them is Lenore’s devoted older cousin, Trevanion, who shares Raven’s interest in the occult and devotes his days to searching ancient texts for an Elixir of Life that might cure his cousin. Raven finds herself inexorably drawn to both cousins, as well as to the secrets hidden in the shadows of Moldavia Manor. Will she find the answers she seeks in Trevanion’s alchemical texts? What is the meaning of glowing green light emitted from the tower windows? And is Raven truly narrating this story from beyond the grave. If so, who murdered her?

Gothic and atmospheric, RAVEN is an aching tale of loss, freedom, death and resurrection by the celebrated author of JANE STEELE and DUST AND SHADOW.

Audiobook available, read by EJ Lavery

Editorial Content for Mother May I

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

L. Dean Murphy

Perhaps AI could offer an alternative spelling to thriller: Hunsicker, whose THE LIFE AND DEATH OF ROSE DOUCETTE was shortlisted for the 2025 Thriller Award and was my Top Pick in the Bookreporter Reviewers’ Favorite Books of 2024 feature. Read More

Teaser

When former CIA operative Meg Dalton finds a shocking clue that suggests her long-missing daughter might still be alive, she’s forced into a desperate, high-stakes search for the truth. Fifteen years after little Ivy vanished without a trace at a Texas fair, Meg has built a career as a covert “operator” --- a soldier-for-hire who takes on dangerous black ops missions for the government. But during a botched assignment in Los Angeles, Meg encounters a woman wearing her daughter’s distinctive butterfly necklace, and everything she believes unravels. As Meg defies her handlers and goes rogue to chase the lead, she’s thrust into a deadly conspiracy linking global espionage, human trafficking and her own past sins.

Promo

When former CIA operative Meg Dalton finds a shocking clue that suggests her long-missing daughter might still be alive, she’s forced into a desperate, high-stakes search for the truth. Fifteen years after little Ivy vanished without a trace at a Texas fair, Meg has built a career as a covert “operator” --- a soldier-for-hire who takes on dangerous black ops missions for the government. But during a botched assignment in Los Angeles, Meg encounters a woman wearing her daughter’s distinctive butterfly necklace, and everything she believes unravels. As Meg defies her handlers and goes rogue to chase the lead, she’s thrust into a deadly conspiracy linking global espionage, human trafficking and her own past sins.

About the Book

She lost everything. Except the will to fight. 

When former CIA operative Meg Dalton finds a shocking clue that suggests her long-missing daughter might still be alive, she’s forced into a desperate, high-stakes search for the truth. Fifteen years after little Ivy vanished without a trace at a Texas fair, Meg has built a career as a covert “operator” --- a soldier-for-hire who takes on dangerous black ops missions for the government.

But during a botched assignment in Los Angeles, Meg encounters a woman wearing her daughter’s distinctive butterfly necklace, and everything she believes unravels. As Meg defies her handlers and goes rogue to chase the lead, she’s thrust into a deadly conspiracy linking global espionage, human trafficking and her own past sins.

Hunted by both her employers and foreign agents, Meg must decide how far she’s willing to go --- and what lines she’ll cross --- to uncover the truth and reclaim her child. MOTHER MAY I is a gripping, emotionally charged thriller about loss, obsession, and the unbreakable bond between a mother and her daughter.

Audiobook available, read by Helen Lee

Editorial Content for Chasing the Headless Horseman: The History, Hijinks, and Halloweens of the Real Sleepy Hollow

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Ray Palen

For many, there is nothing more ideal on a chilly and dark October night than to enjoy a scary story. I go out of my way to read as many horror novels as I can during this spookiest of all seasons. But what if there was a book that gave us the history of a figure who preexisted the celebration of Halloween itself? Edgar Award-winning travel writer J. W. Ocker has done just that with a terrific work of nonfiction about Washington Irving’s most frightening creation. Read More

Teaser

This immersive travelogue investigates the town that inspired Washington Irving's famous short story, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” and dives into the storied history of the Headless Horseman’s stomping grounds. Within the pages you'll visit the village’s graveyard where Irving himself is buried and explore all the present-day spookiness of one of the strangest towns in the country. Blending cultural criticism and behind-the-scenes reporting, J. W. Ocker uncovers the tensions between tourism and tradition, profit and preservation, fiction and fact. With wit and curiosity, CHASING THE HEADLESS HORSEMAN tells the story of how one small town reinvented itself as America’s Halloween capital, complete with statues, street signs and an 18-foot-tall Headless Horseman.

Promo

This immersive travelogue investigates the town that inspired Washington Irving's famous short story, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” and dives into the storied history of the Headless Horseman’s stomping grounds. Within the pages you'll visit the village’s graveyard where Irving himself is buried and explore all the present-day spookiness of one of the strangest towns in the country. Blending cultural criticism and behind-the-scenes reporting, J. W. Ocker uncovers the tensions between tourism and tradition, profit and preservation, fiction and fact. With wit and curiosity, CHASING THE HEADLESS HORSEMAN tells the story of how one small town reinvented itself as America’s Halloween capital, complete with statues, street signs and an 18-foot-tall Headless Horseman.

About the Book

Tread the drowsy shades of Sleepy Hollow with Edgar Award-winning travel writer J. W. Ocker in this spirited exploration of haunted corners, local lore and America's most famous ghost story.

This immersive travelogue investigates the town that inspired Washington Irving's famous short story, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” and dives into the storied history of the Headless Horseman’s stomping grounds. Within the pages you'll visit the village’s graveyard where Irving himself is buried and explore all the present-day spookiness of one of the strangest towns in the country.

Blending cultural criticism and behind-the-scenes reporting, Ocker uncovers the tensions between tourism and tradition, profit and preservation, fiction and fact. With wit and curiosity, CHASING THE HEADLESS HORSEMAN tells the story of how one small town reinvented itself as America’s Halloween capital, complete with statues, street signs and an 18-foot-tall Headless Horseman.

A must-read for anyone who loves ghost stories, Halloween, or small-town drama, Ocker’s new book does for Sleepy Hollow, New York, what his A SEASON WITH THE WITCH did for Salem, Massachusetts.

Audiobook available, read by Dustin Naylor 

American Hagwon by Min Jin Lee

October 2026

Min Jin Lee's last book, PACHINKO, came out in 2017, which in many ways feels like a lifetime ago. So I assumed that whatever she wrote next would both feel and be big. I am not talking about the page count, but rather the storyline, the complexity of the characters, and the messaging that she wanted to share.

The focus in AMERICAN HAGWON is on education, which starts young. It is not just about learning, but also about achievement. Mediocrity is unacceptable. Good is unacceptable. Very good is unacceptable. There is a quest for the promised land --- that of a select group of Ivy League colleges that have been noted as the only way that success will be achieved. 

Hollywood, Ending by John Green

October 2026

Ah, Hollywood. It's all glitz and glamour on the outside. But what is it really like behind the scenes? John Green takes readers there in his latest book, HOLLYWOOD, ENDING, his first novel for adults.

Over the past decade, Green has seen cinematic adaptations of his novels that have given him insight into that world --- and he brings that knowledge to this book.

Here we are brought onto the set of an indie film being made about Andy Warhol, which is set in the days before his death. Andy Warhol Never Gets Old co-stars Juniper Castillo, who was a child actor, and Kai Laramie, who is appearing in his first movie. The title role is being played by someone whom theatergoers might not expect to see in a film like this: Marvel action hero Matthew Malone. He's “the face” of the movie, with Hollywood clout behind his name. Whether a big motion picture or a small one, he wants a hit.

October 16, 2026

When we left off last week, Husband Tom and I were heading out to hear Malcolm Gladwell's Opening Keynote at the Morristown Festival of Books.

Gladwell spoke about his latest book, THE AMERICAN WAY OF KILLING: The Invention of an Epidemic, to a sold-out audience. He noted how conversation with community group leaders and people in a community can help to dissuade gun violence, citing Baltimore as a city that has adopted these measures with a positive reaction. He endorsed the idea of more police, pointing out that most cities in Europe have police forces twice the size of ours. He also talked about how a homicide count does not exactly depict what violence has occurred in a city. For example, in a city like New York, a quick ambulance ride to a hospital can save your life. It's not the same in a place where a hospital is not convenient.

John Mutter, author of Fortune and Glass

Berlin, 1932. Germany’s fragile democracy is fracturing, its ideals cracking like thin glass as political violence and paranoia seep into the streets. In the midst of this tension, Rudi, a young Foreign Ministry official, meets Sara, an unpredictable, morally fierce Jewish woman whose connection with him is immediate and combustible. By 1943, the Germany they knew has vanished, and Rudi works at the center of Nazi power, performing his duties by day and passing intelligence to the Allies by night --- until Sara’s unexpected return threatens to unravel the life he has carefully constructed to survive.