What We’re Reading this November
In this exciting thriller from #1 New York Times bestselling author David Baldacci, the 6:20 Man is leaving U.S soil—this time drawn into a storm of billion-dollar secrets and international power plays that could shatter the world order.
When fearless war correspondent Theresa Lee is shot on a storm-swept Manhattan street and the man she was meeting, Bill Walker, vanishes, the 6:20 Man, aka former Army Ranger turned federal investigator Travis Devine, is called in. Theresa is an investigative journalist, Walker a legendary analyst for the Five Eyes alliance that gathers intelligence that could topple governments around the world. A professional hit team has tried to silence one and snatched the other—and Devine has to find out why.
From New York’s glass-and-steel canyons to the glittering harbors of Australia, Devine is pulled into the orbit of the Woolwine empire—an Australian dynasty whose fortune makes them more powerful than some nations. Partnering with Anais Jones, a driven, Sydney-based homicide detective, he uncovers a lethal convergence of rogue intelligence operations, Russian mobsters, compromised prisons, and a quiet campaign to redraw the global balance of power.
To stop a conspiracy fueled by weaponized data and manufactured truths, Devine will have to untangle a love story that may be a lie, a rescue that may have been conjured, and a billionaire’s ambition with a body count. In a world where enemies wear the faces of allies, the only currency that matters is information—and the 6:20 Man is running out of time to keep it all from crashing down.
A young woman stands trial for the double murder of her parents in this thriller from the world’s #1 bestselling author, James Patterson.
Eighteen-year-old Janelle Thompson is used to seeing her adoptive parents in the news. Her father is a rising political star. Her mother is the mind behind his first major campaign. Then one Friday night, the whole family makes headlines. Her parents are missing, declared dead—and all the evidence points to Janelle.
A perfect family destroyed by a daughter barely old enough to vote. From her cell at Westfall Justice Center, Janelle swears she’s innocent, that she loved her parents. If only she could convince someone—anyone—that she’s telling the truth.
An engrossing and twisty workplace novel that follows one woman’s descent from devotion into obsession, from a New York Times bestselling author.
Grace Cathcart Crowley is a proud woman, a fastidious bookkeeper at Penniman Mill, and a fiercely loyal employee. After the public collapse of her marriage, triggered by her husband’s relationship with his underage student, Grace finds herself living only for and through the mill. And she will stop at nothing to ensure the success of the mill’s careless and undeserving owner, Walter Penniman.
But now, Grace’s rigidly ordered existence is coming undone. Walter takes up with his new HR hire, and a management shakeup at the mill exposes years of rigged finances that begin to resemble embezzlement. Faced with losing her grip on both the mill and Walter, Grace hatches a desperate plan to regain control. The psychological thrillers of Patricia Highsmith reverberate through Morris’s novel, as Grace is soon drawn into an obsessive downward spiral that will leave her life and livelihood in pieces.
Morris has been hailed as a “a tour de force” by the New Yorker, and The New York Times called her writing “thrilling and deeply affecting.”
An icy thriller from the world’s #1 bestselling author, James Patterson.
At a frozen lakeside crime scene, a corpse carries an accusatory note: “If anything happens to me, arrest Brendan Holmes.”
Mysteries trail Brendan Holmes, Margaret Marple, and Auguste Poe wherever they go. At a remote lodge in upstate New York, the embattled private investigators have taken refuge from the assailant who bombed their sleek city headquarters.
When the discovery of a body in the lake puts the detectives back in the headlines and under suspicion, the elusive killer issues his despicable orders: stop solving crimes—and start committing them.
“Patterson … will have readers checking their locks twice.” —Booklist
“Patterson’s latest thriller keeps readers guessing … a fine chase.” —People
The Golden Girls meets Bonnie and Clyde and Thelma and Louise in this thrilling novel about two elderly women who go on the run to cover up a double murder they committed four decades ago.
Ida and Jean got away with murder. Settling into their golden years in late ’90s Rockaway, New York, Ida and Jean’s biggest problems are HOA squabbles, grown kids who don’t visit enough, and staying in the closet as a lesbian couple for fear of being ostracized. But when the electrical lines in their backyard need replacing, the women know that digging up the ground will unearth their long-held secret: the bodies of their late husbands buried under the rosebushes.
After their attempts to keep the electrical company from digging take a deadly turn, the lovers go on the run, launched into a cross-country adventure—with their cat, Frankie, in tow. To escape the law, they’ll need to outwit quirky midwestern locals, mend frayed relationships with their adult children, and shake off the detective that’s hot on their trail. But if Ida and Jean can pull it off, they’ll find their freedom in the place that has always represented their best shot at coming out and finally living their authentic lives together: San Francisco, California.
#1 International bestselling author Ian Rankin returns with a razor-sharp, twisty standalone thriller—this one exposing the lives of the 1% in London’s most exclusive high rise.
Facing Hyde Park, The Heights is London’s most coveted luxury high-rise apartment—designed to satisfy every need, with a gym, infinity pool, cinema, and more, where self-made owner-developer Allan Franklyn himself has claimed the penthouse duplex. His neighbors include some of “Money London’s” biggest personalities: a wealthy art dealer, a young heartthrob pop star, a foreign heiress, a gangster’s wife. The residents are used to service, deference, and privacy, all on their terms.
But when nighttime concierge Dwayne Hogarth is found dead in the lobby, none of that is in their control anymore, and everyone’s under the unwelcome scrutiny of Detective Sergeant Gillian Gish. Her questions begin with the party on the 4th floor the night Dwayne died, which ended with a fight; the missing key to one of the apartments; and a mysterious gap in the security camera footage. Before long, Gish uncovers the unsavory truths and dark secrets that lurk beneath the glittering facades of the building and its inhabitants.
Filled with shocking twists and unforgettable characters, The Heights confirms Ian Rankin’s status as one of the most original and compelling crime writers of our time.
From the dark imagination of underground horror sensation Andy Marino comes a haunted house story like you’ve never read before . . .
“The most brilliant and terrifying haunted house novel I’ve ever read.” – Keith Rosson, author of Coffin Moon
“Marino’s work is unlike any others in the genre—horrifying, complex, fascinating, and utterly unique.” —Hannah Whitten, New York Times bestselling author
When Soren Murphy’s aunt passes away, she gifts him her anicent manor. He never knew her, but he’s not one to turn down free real estate. His girlfriend, Mara Davis, is thrilled. They’ve been desperately searching for a home.
But something haunts the house. Soren begins to receive messages from an entity known only as the Great Other. Its first direction is simple: Invite others in. The second: Relieve them of their sorrow.
Mara, too, hears this otherworldly voice. She has been haunted by her past for too long. The Great Other offers her solace, but to earn it, she must descend into the home’s darkest halls.
Within the shifting walls of this ageless house, wounds have been suffered. And soon, a horrible miracle will unfold . . .
“An era-defining work of horror.” – Clay McLeod Chapman, author of Mr. Lonelyhearts
“Pure psychological and supernatural horror – powerful, haunting, visceral, atmospheric, and deeply unsettling.” – Craig DiLouie, USA Today bestselling author
★ “Marino’s sentence-by-sentence writing is wonderful. Even when it’s terrifying, Cold Empty Rooms issimultaneously tender, personal and elegant.” – BookPage (starred review)
DC Smith is determined to find the connection between two crimes that take place over a century apart in this thriller from a bestselling author.
On a quiet Monday morning, an unexpected appointment unsettles the delicate balance at Kings Lake Central. A new Detective Inspector takes up the post, while veteran investigator Detective Sergeant D.C. Smith, chooses this moment to submit his resignation. With just months left before retirement, Smith must confront not only his own future, but also the uncertain fate of the department he will leave behind.
Meanwhile, a body is discovered on the Norfolk salt marshes: a stranger dead after a prolonged and violent murder. What appears at first to be a straightforward case gradually reveals its complex origins in the previous century. The investigation takes the team into the dark world of organized crime, as they cross paths with mobsters, boxers, and an aging starlet, each of whom has something to hide.
The case unfolds through careful, methodical work, and with it come growing strains within the squad—heightened by the presence of the new DI and the specter of Smith’s impending retirement. In the months that remain, DC Smith must consider what it means to leave, and whether the officers he has guided are ready to continue without him.
Final girl Charley faces off against the occult in this absolutely killer horror-comedy sequel, perfect for fans of How to Hang a Witch, the Scream franchise, and The Blair Witch Project.
Charley Ryan and her mom are on the run and have been since the Harrogate Killer died after trying to add Charley to their body count a year ago. Paranoid? Maybe, but Charley‘s seen enough horror sequels to know the killer isn’t dead, yet.
Her plans are thwarted, though, when their car breaks down, leaving Charley and her mother trapped in a quiet Scottish town ominously nicknamed “The Devil’s Punchbowl,” filled with disturbing landscapes, unsettling inhabitants, and a bloody history of witch trials.
Burned by last year’s betrayal, Charley tries her best to remain a lone wolf when she starts at the local high school, though, the lure of a fellow classmate makes her question even her best horror instincts. As townspeople begin to go missing in the lead up to Halloween and silenced ghosts vie for her attention, Charley and her new friends set out to defeat the local coven of dark witches.
From avoiding the creepy basement to remaining wary of the disturbingly perfect popular kids, How to Survive a Horror Sequel lovingly highlights and subvert classic horror sequel tropes, crafting a book as bone-chilling as it is hilarious.
A hilarious and heartwarming cozy mystery ?following an octogenarian who covers a dastardly plot inside his nursing home, perfect for fans of Richard Osman and Only Murders in the Building.
They might be over the hill but they’re far from six feet under and now there’s a murder to solve! Meet Martin Maxwell. As a former government operative, at eighty-four-years young he always pictured a retirement sipping shaken-not-stirred martinis on a far-flung island. But in need of some care after a new hip, he finds himself at Twilight Lodge on the decidedly cloudy English coast.
From the outside, it’s a picture-perfect place to recuperate. But when popular resident Elsie dies unexpectedly, Martin suspects foul play. She’s the third death in less than two weeks and always had a clean bill of health. Armed with a walking stick and his trusty notebook and pen, Martin decides to investigate. While nobody believes him—death is an inevitable part of care home life after all—Martin is convinced something sinister is afoot.
With his wheelchair-using sidekick and former nemesis Albie in tow, they begin questioning the residents. Soon they learn that there are several suspects in the frame. When they discover Albie’s love interest Barbara is in the killer’s sights, Martin knows time is running out. Will Albie’s heart be broken forever, or can they battle the effects of old age and each other, outwitting a murderer before it’s too late?
A detective seeks justice for his murdered wife with the help of a psychotherapist—while fighting an undeniable attraction to her—in this sexy suspense novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author, Sandra Brown.
? “Brown is at the top of her game with this one.” —Library Journal (Starred Review)
Two years ago, Detective Mitch Haskell lost his wife to a vicious act of retribution, and has since attributed her murder to two men: Roland Malone and the unidentified mastermind of the crime known only as Oz. Malone, a ruthless executioner and drug dealer who fronts as a restaurant owner, neutralizes so cleanly that he doesn’t leave a trace. And he performs his handiwork at the biddings of Oz, the faceless kingpin of a drug trafficking operation whose name alone evokes terror.
Obsessively vowing to avenge his late wife’s murder, Mitch has been on a downward spiral, jeopardizing his closest relationships and drinking excessively to numb his pain. After going one step too far, Detective John Bowie, his former best friend and now his boss, 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. She’s determined to make the most of his mandated sessions. But from the moment Mitch 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. And when it’s revealed that Dylan might hold the key to bringing them to justice, Mitch and Dylan’s irresistible attraction to each other may not only compromise both of them professionally, but place them in Oz’s bullseye.
