OHCC LIBRARY

 

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For those of you who are interested in more holiday reading, there are holiday books on the shelf under the cabinets on the right side of the library.

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AND TO ALL A GOOD BITE David Rosenfelt - Defense attorney Andy Carpenter would rather spend December glued to football than wrapped up in holiday cheer, but a fresh murder tied to an old tragedy drags him back to work. Andy shelves the game schedule and takes the case. With his trademark wit, canine cameos, and courtroom chaos, David Rosenfelt delivers a Christmas mystery where only one verdict will do: peace on earth and a good bite for all..

 

CHRISTMAS IN BETHEL Richard Paul Evans – Leigh Beth Stilton never liked the holidays and Christmas was nothing to celebrate—until a chance meeting turns into a fantasy she never could have anticipated.

 

THE CHRISTMAS RING Karen Kingsbury – A military widow falls in love while searching for her lost family heirloom.

 

THE CHRISTMAS STRANGER Richard Paul Evans – Three years after losing his family on Christmas Eve, grief-stricken Paul hasn’t just given up on Christmas, he has given up on life. When a stranger knocks on his door, claiming to be picking up a laptop, Paul lets him in—but the man has a very different mission in mind. The next morning Paul challenges him to give him one reason to live. The stranger agrees but warns Paul not to expect a path he would have guessed or chosen.

 

A FERRY MERRY CHRISTMAS Debbie Macomber – A delayed ferryboat brings people together in this enchanting Christmas novel. Avery and Reed Bond are very close. Facing the first Christmas without their beloved Gram who had raised them, they decide to spend the holiday at Reed’s home. However, their plans take an unexpected turn when the ferry Avery is traveling on stalls in the middle of Puget Sound. At first an inconvenience, but Avery and Reed soon discover that this unforeseen delay might end up being a perfectly timed blessing in disguise.

 

 

NEW BOOK PURCHASES NOVEMBER 2025​

BEHIND THE BADGE (NF)   Johnny Joey Jones – First responders run toward things the rest of us run away from.  What makes a person want to become a first responder? As in his bestselling book Unbroken Bonds of Battle, retired Marine Johnny Joey Jones didn’t have to look further than his closest family and friends to find frontline defenders—some he’s known since childhood, some he served with, and others have become friends and mentors. 
 

THE BLACK WOLF   Louise Penny  – Several weeks ago, Chief Inspector Armand Gamache and his team stopped a domestic terrorist attack in Montréal, arresting the person behind it. A man they called the Black Wolf.  But their relief is short-lived. In a sickening turn of events, Gamache has realized that plot, as horrific as it was, was just the beginning. Perhaps even a deliberate misdirection. One he fell into. Something deeper and darker, more damaging, is planned.
 

BUCKEYE   Patrick Ryan –  One town. Two families. A secret that changes everything.  A stolen moment of passion, in the aftermath of the Allied victory in Europe, binds Cal, a man wounded by his inability to serve in war, to Margaret, a woman trying to obscure her past. Cal’s wife, Becky, is a seer who can conjure the dead.  Margaret’s husband, Felix, is serving on a Navy cargo ship, out of harm’s way—until a telegram suggests that the unthinkable might have happened.
 

BURY OUR BONES IN THE MIDNIGHT SOIL   V.E.Schwab – a novel about immortality and hunger.  1532. Santo Domingo 
A young girl grows up wild and wily—her beauty is only outmatched by her dreams of escape. When an alluring stranger offers an alternate path, María makes a desperate choice.  1827. London.  A young woman receives an invitation from a beautiful widow—but the price of freedom is high.  2019. Boston.  After an out-of-character one-night stand leaves her questioning her past, her present, and her future, Alice throws herself into the hunt for answers . . . and revenge. 
 

THE CHRISTMAS STRANGER   Richard Paul Evans – Three years after losing his family on Christmas Eve, grief-stricken Paul hasn’t just given up on Christmas, he’s given up on life.  When a stranger knocks on his door, claiming to be picking up a laptop, Paul allows him in—but the man has a very different mission in mind.  The next morning, Paul challenges him to give him one reason to live. The stranger agrees but warns Paul not to expect a path he would have guessed or chosen.
 

EMMA ON FIRE   James Patterson & Emily Raymond – Everyone at Ridgemont Academy knows what to expect from Emma.  Perfect grades. Perfect record. Perfect life. Then she stands up in class and commits an act so shocking that her reputation will never recover.  Which is exactly what Emma wants.  Emma on Fire is the unforgettable story of one brave young woman—and her decision to live life as if everyone’s future depends on it.  Because it does.
 

A FERRY MERRY CHRISTMAS   Debbie Macomber – A delayed ferryboat brings people together in this enchanting Christmas novel.   Avery and Reed Bond are very close.  Facing their first Christmas without their beloved Grams who raised them, they decide to spend the holiday at Reed’s home. However, their plans take an unexpected turn when the ferry Avery’s traveling on stalls in the middle of Puget Sound.  At first an inconvenience, but Avery and Reed soon discover that this unforeseen delay might end up being a perfectly timed blessing in disguise.

 

GONE BEFORE GOODBYE   Harlan Coben & Reece Witherspoon –  Maggie McCabe is an Army combat surgeon.  Her life is upside down after her medical license was revoked, and she turns to an elite plastic surgeon whose anonymous clientele demand discretion.  Now a mysterious man requires unconventional medical assistance. Desperate, Maggie fulfills her end of the agreement. But when the patient suddenly disappears while still under her care, Maggie must become a fugitive herself—or she will be the next one who is ... Gone Before Goodbye
 

 

THE INTRUDER   Frieda McFadden – During a hurricane, Casey discovers a girl outside her kitchen window.  She’s young. She’s alone. And she’s covered in blood.  The girl won't explain where she came from or loosen her grip on the knife in her right hand. And when Casey makes a disturbing discovery in the middle of the night, things take a turn for the worse.
 

THE KILLING STONES   Ann Cleeves – Jimmy Perez is living in his new home in Orkney, with his partner Willow Reeve and their growing family. One stormy night, his oldest and closest friend, Archie, goes missing. Ever the detective, Perez goes to the island of Westray, where Archie worked as a farmer and lived with his wife and children.  He discovers Archie's body, on an archaeological dig site and an ancient Westray story stone beside him, the clear murder weapon. The artifact, taken from a nearby museum, seems to suggest a premediated murder.
 

THE LISTENERS   Maggie Stiefvater – January 1942. The Avallon Hotel & Spa is elegant luxury in the wilds of West Virginia.  General Manager June Hudson has guided the Avallon through the first pangs of war. But when the owner’s heir makes a deal with the State Department to fill the hotel with captured Axis diplomats, June must persuade her staff—many of whom have sons and husbands on the front lines—to offer luxury to Nazis. With a smile.  Meanwhile FBI Agent Tucker Minnick is listening to the diplomats’ secrets. 
 

MARK TWAIN (NF)   Ron Chernow – Born in 1835, America’s first literary celebrity spent his childhood dreaming of piloting steamboats on the Mississippi. But when the Civil War began, he went west to the Nevada Territory and worked at a local newspaper, writing dispatches with brashness and humor. Soon he was recognized for his literary brilliance.  In this richly nuanced portrait of Mark Twain, acclaimed biographer Ron Chernow focusses on a man who shamelessly sought fame and fortune and crafted his persona with meticulous care. 
 

THE PICASSO HEIST   James Patterson & Howard Roughan – A previously unknown Picasso is discovered in the attic of a French villa.  Filthy-rich Manhattan art people, organized crime bosses, power-hungry government officials, and a glamorous twenty-two-year-old art thief all want to possess it.  But only one person knows how to take it - she’s the rival none of the power players see coming.
 

THE PORTRAIT  Danielle Steel – Devon is a highly sought-after portrait artist.  But she has suffered losses, first as an orphan, then as a far-too-young widow.  When Charlie sees her at a New York gallery event, he is drawn by her beauty and talent. He lost his mother when young and still lives with his late father’s disapproval. Charlie has resigned himself to a loveless marriage to avoid a divorce.  But Devon awakens something in him, and she is in turn intrigued by Charlie. 
 

THE PROVING GROUND   Michael Connelly – Mickey Haller has filed a civil lawsuit against an AI company whose chatbot told a sixteen-year-old boy that it was okay for him to kill his ex-girlfriend.  Representing the family, Mickey’s case explores the unregulated and exploding AI business.  Along the way he joins up with a journalist who wants to write a book about it.  McEvoy’s digging delivers the key witness, a whistleblower who is too afraid to speak up. And billions are at stake.
 

SHARP FORCE   Patricia Cornwell – ME Dr. Kay Scarpetta learns that the Phantom Slasher has struck again.  The serial killer has terrorized the area for months. He invades his victims' homes virtually and watches their every move. Then they are murdered in their beds.  Scarpetta is summoned to Mercy Island, the site of a notorious psychiatric hospital where two people have been brutalized, one of them from Scarpetta’s past. It soon becomes apparent that she could be next… 
 

SHE DIDN’T SEE IT COMING  Shari LaPena - Bryden and Sam have it all: thriving careers, a smart apartment in a luxury condominium, supportive friends and a cherished daughter.  Arriving home one day with their little girl, Sam finds his wife’s car in the underground garage. Her laptop and cell phone are on the table and her keys in their usual place in the hall.  But she is nowhere to be seen.  As questions swirl around their community – Bryden and Sam’s past seems a little less perfect, their condominium less safe, their friends, neighbors and relatives no longer quite so reliable . . .
 

THE TIN MAN   Nelson & Alex DeMille – Army CID Special Agents Brodie and Taylor team up for their toughest assignment yet.  They are dispatched to Camp Hayden to investigate the death of Major Roger Ames, the chief scientist in charge of the top-secret war games between a platoon of Army Rangers and a fleet of “lethal autonomous weapons.” Brodie and Taylor find themselves at ground zero of the next generation of warfare, and must untangle the complex web of alliances, animosities, and secret agendas among the men and women of the isolated facility.
 

TWICE   Mitch Albom – At eight years old, Alfie discovers that he can get a second chance at everything. He can undo any moment and live it again. The one catch: he must accept the consequences of his second try—for better or worse.  He falls deeply in love with Gianna, the woman he believes is the one.  But Alfie’s eye begins to wander. Then he learns that once he undoes a love, that person can never fall in love with him again. Knowing he risks losing, Alfie makes a choice that changes his life forever.
 

THE WIDOW   John Grisham –  Simon Latch is a lawyer, struggling while his marriage slowly falls apart. Then into his office walks Eleanor Barnett, an elderly widow in need of a new will. Apparently, her husband left her a small fortune, and no one knows about it.  Simon works quietly to keep her wealth under the radar. When she is hospitalized after a car accident, Simon realizes that nothing is as it seems, and he finds himself on trial for murder.  Simon knows the circumstantial evidence is against him, and he could spend the rest of his life behind bars. To save himself, he must find the real killer….

 

NEW BOOK PURCHASES OCTOBER 2025

THE ACADEMY   Ellen Hilderbrand & Shelby Cunningham – Tiffin Academy was named the number two boarding school in the country. Was that a typo?  The Tiffin students are more social than academic. On the other hand, the campus is exquisite, and they do have fun. But then scandalous online items begin to appear, and nobody is safe. From an international influencer, to the new history teacher, to the Admissions Director – everyone has something to hide.
 

THE BILLION-DOLLAR RANSOM   James Patterson & Duane Swierczynski – Five members of a billionaire’s family are all kidnapped at the same moment.  Two children taken from a private-school bus. A film producer and a movie star grabbed at a hideaway resort. A beautiful wife whisked off the streets of Beverly Hills. The patriarch wants his family back. The ransom is all ready.  There’s only one problem: FBI Special Agent Nicky Gordon doesn’t want to pay the kidnappers. 
 

THE BRIGHT YEARS   Sarah Damoff – Ryan and Lillian Bright are deeply in love, recently married, and now parents to a baby girl, Georgette. But Lillian has a son she hasn’t told Ryan about, and Ryan has an alcohol addiction he hasn’t told Lillian about, so Georgette grows up as their marriage fails.  Years later, Lillian’s son comes searching for his birth family, so Georgette must return to her roots, unearth her family’s history, and decide whether she can open up to love for them—or herself—while there’s still time.

 

CONQUERING CRISIS (NF)    Admiral William H. McRaven – Throughout his 40-year career, Admiral McRaven has experienced every manner of calamity imaginable. He has learned how to successfully navigate crises when leadership skills alone may not be enough.  Conquering Crisis provides tools for facing these moments. It breaks crises down into phases - assess, report, contain, shape, and manage—and provides concrete steps to come out the other side stronger. 
 

THE CORRESPONDENT   Virginia Evans – Sybil uses letters to make sense of the world. Most mornings, Sybil writes letters—to her brother, to her best friend, and to one person to whom she writes often yet never sends the letter.  Sybil expects her world to go on as it always has.  But when letters from someone in her past force her to examine a painful period of her life, she realizes she cannot move forward until she finds it in her heart to offer forgiveness.
 

A DOG IN GEORGIA   Lauren Grodstein – Amy Webb was a chef.  She also became a wife and a stepmother, and her career disappeared entirely– along with her sense of self.  Which is why she is in the Republic of Georgia, on a mission to find a lost dog named Angel, and, more importantly, her life’s purpose. For months, Amy watched  Youtube videos of Angel walking the children of Tbilisi to school.  When Angel goes missing, Amy volunteers to go find him. Her husband may be having (another) affair and her stepson is away at college, so Amy takes off.  In Tblisi, she asks, is she happy in her marriage? What happened to her career? Why doesn’t she ever cook anymore, even just for herself? 
 

FRAMED IN DEATH   J.D. Robb – Manhattan is filled with galleries and deep-pocketed collectors who can make an artist's career with a wave of a hand. But one man toils in obscurity, his brilliance unrecognized while lesser talents bask in the glory he believes should be his. Come tomorrow, he vows, the city will be buzzing about his work.  Indeed, before dawn, Lt. Eve Dallas is at a horrifying crime scene. A lifeless young woman has been costumed and posed to resemble a long-ago Dutch painting, and Dallas plunges into her investigation.
 

THE GIRL FROM DEVIL’S LAKE   J.A. Jance – Sheriff Joanna Brady is looking forward to celebrating her daughter Jenny’s graduation from the police academy. But the family is interrupted when a body is discovered beneath a flooded bridge in the Arizona desert, and Joanna is called onto the case. A young boy was murdered, and the details of the crime scene tell Joanna two things: This was not the killer’s first murder. And it’s only a matter of time before he kills again.
 

THE GRAVE ARTIST   Jeffery Deaver & Isabella Maldonado – A wedding reception is coming to a close in the Hollywood Hills when the blissful day is shattered by the death of one of the newlyweds. Though the incident appears to be an accident, Homeland Security Investigations agent Carmen Sanchez and her partner, security expert Jake Heron, discover that the tragedy is the third in a series of similar deaths and conclude something far more sinister is at play.
 

GUESS AGAIN   Charlie Donlea – Ten years ago, 17-year-old Callie vanished from her quiet Wisconsin lake community. Her body was never found. Ethan Hall left law enforcement to escape the horrors of the kid crime division. But on the tenth anniversary of Callie’s disappearance, his former partner makes a desperate request - he needs Ethan to return to the haunting work he left behind—and solve what happened to Callie, once and for all.

THE HALLMARKED MAN   Robert Galbraith – A dismembered corpse is discovered in the vault of a silver shop. The police initially believe it to be that of a convicted armed robber - but not everyone agrees with that theory. One of them is Decima Mullins, who calls on the help of private detective Cormoran Strike as she's certain the body in the silver vault was that of her boyfriend - the father of her newborn baby - who suddenly and mysteriously disappeared.
 

IT HAPPENED ON THE LAKE   Lisa Jackson – The huge house on Lake Twilight belongs to Harper Reed Prescott, as does the private island on which it sits. Harper wants little to do with either. Twenty years ago, Harper’s grandmother died suspiciously while in her care, on the same night that Harper’s boyfriend disappeared. His body was never found, and no charges were filed. But the rumors haven’t faded. There have been other deaths, other accidents. All revolving around Harper and her family.
 

THE IMPOSSIBLE FORTUNE   Richard Osman – It’s been a quiet year for the Thursday Murder Club. Joyce is busy with wedding plans. Elizabeth is grieving. Ron is dealing with family, and Ibrahim is still providing therapy to his favorite criminal.  But when Elizabeth meets Nick, a wedding guest asking for her help, she finds the thrill of the chase is ignited once again. And when Nick disappears without a trace, his cagey business partner becomes the gang’s next stop. It seems the duo have something valuable—something worth killing for.
 

KING OF ASHES   S.A. Cosby – When eldest son Roman is summoned home after his father’s car accident, he finds his younger brother, Dante, in debt to dangerous criminals and his sister, Neveah, exhausted from holding the family and the business together. Neveah and their father, who run the Carruthers Crematorium see death up close every day. But it becomes clear that the crash was no accident and Dante’s recklessness has placed them all in real danger.
 

FOR RICHER OR POORER   Danielle Steel – After working as head designer for Oscar de la Renta, Eugenia Ward started her own company.  She is now a major name in fashion. But Eugenia desperately needs new investors—and new ideas.  At the same time, she has five adult children.  As the family gathers for a vacation, wedding costs for her daughter Gloria are exploding even as the loutish behavior of her fiancé causes Eugenia to question her daughter’s judgment. Meanwhile, Gloria’s sister Daphne is due to deliver twins right around the wedding date . . . which is also very close to Fashion Week.  The silver lining in it all may be meeting Patrick Hughes who’s also going through a rough patch. 
 

THE RIVER IS WAITING   Wally Lamb – Corby Ledbetter is struggling. New fatherhood, job loss, and an addiction have affected his marriage. And that’s before he causes the tragedy that tears the family apart. Sentenced to prison, Corby struggles to survive life on the inside, where he sees frightful acts of brutality but also small acts of kindness. The prison librarian and some of his fellow offenders have their own tales to tell. Corby begins to transcend his confinement, hoping that mercy and reconciliation might still be possible. Can his crimes ever be forgiven by those he loves?
 

SPECTACULAR THINGS   Beck Dorey-Stein – Mia and Cricket have always been close. The gifted daughters of a young single mother, the “Lowe girls” are well-known in their small Maine town. Each sister has a role to fill: The responsible Mia becomes a caregiver far too young, while Cricket, full of energy and talent, seems born for soccer stardom. But the cost of achieving athletic greatness comes at a steep price.  As they grow up, they must grapple with their mother’s secret past while navigating their own precarious future. 
 

VINCE FLYNN DENIED ACCESS   Don Bently – The Central Intelligence Agency is in crisis.  Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Congress is questioning the organization’s necessity. Interim CIA director Thomas Stansfield must fight for his agency’s survival while explaining why the previous candidate for his job was found murdered in a French hotel—surrounded by booze, cash, and dead men. Stansfield seeks help from Mitch Rapp, a newly minted assassin in the secretive Orion program. 
 

WAYWARD GIRLS   Susan Wiggs – In 1968 we meet six teens confined at the Good Shepherd—a dark and secretive institution controlled by Sisters of Charity nuns—locked away merely for being gay, pregnant, or simply unruly.  However, conditions at Good Shepherd might be just as bad.  One of the Sisters, rescued from a dreadful childhood, owes her loyalty to the Sisters of Charity even as her conscience is troubled.
 

WE ARE GUILTY HERE   Karin Slaughter – Welcome to North Falls—a small town where everyone knows everyone. Or so they think.  Until the night of the fireworks, when two teenage girls vanish.  For Officer Emmy Clifton, it’s personal. She turned away when her best friend's daughter needed help—and now she must bring her home.  But Emmy realizes she never really knew them. Every teenage girl has secrets. But who would kill for them? And what else is the town hiding?

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NEW BOOK PURCHASES SEPTEMBER 2025

ATMOSPHERE   Taylor Jenkins Reid – Joan Goodwin has been obsessed with the stars for as long as she can remember. Then she comes across an advertisement seeking the first women scientists to join NASA’s space shuttle program. Suddenly, Joan is selected to go to space.  In the summer of 1980, Joan begins training with an exceptional group of fellow candidates.  Joan finds a passion and a love, and begins to question everything she thinks she knows about her place in the universe.  Then, in December of 1984 it all changes in an instant.
 

BEACH HOUSE RULES  Kristy Woodson Harvey – When Charlotte’s husband is arrested she and her daughter are locked out of their house by the FBI and featured in the town’s snarky anonymous Instagram account. Desperate, Charlotte moves to a former beachfront bed-and-breakfast that’s home to a community of single mothers and draws plenty of gossip in town.  They find solace and fun with the other families despite their circumstances. But when a secret link between them emerges, it changes everything.   Will the skeletons in the closets shatter the sisterhood forever?
 

BROKEN COUNTRY  Clare Leslie Hall – Beth and her gentle, kind husband are happily married, but that relies on the past staying buried. When a dog attacks their sheep,  their lives change. Gabriel, who broke her heart years ago, has returned to the village with his young son Leo, who reminds Beth of her own dead son.  As Beth is pulled back into Gabriel’s life, she must choose between the woman she once was, and the woman she has become.
 

THE CARDINAL  Alison Weir – Cardinal Thomas Wolsey’s rise from humble beginnings coincided with young Henry VIII’s ascension to the throne in 1509. The two grew to be cherished friends, and by 1515 Wolsey, now a cardinal, had become the controlling figure in all matters of church and state.  All was well until Henry fell in love with Anne Boleyn and sought to divorce his first wife, Katherine of Aragon. Wolsey, who had given his master everything he wanted, was now failing. 
 

THE DEATH MASK  Iris Johansen – Forensic sculptor Eve Duncan’s skills can make her a target. She is ordered to create an Egyptian death mask for a nefarious client. Her would-be employer threatens her family to force her to travel to Africa to mold the priceless mask.  Eve knows that her husband is searching for a way to help. Joe has back-up from Alex Dominic, a mercenary for hire, as he navigates the jungle and masterminds a breathtaking escape.
 

DOGGED PURSUIT  David Rosenfelt – Andy Carpenter worked as a prosecutor until he became disillusioned.   He starts his own defense firm and decides to adopt a dog.  At the shelter he adopts both Tara and Sunny.  Andy discovers that Sunny's owner, Ryan Tierney, has been arrested for the murder of his ex-boss. But he takes an immediate liking to Ryan and his clear dedication to his dog, and ends up with his first case along with the two dogs.
 

DREAM COUNT  Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie – Chiamaka is a Nigerian living in America. Alone during the pandemic, she grapples with her choices and regrets. Zikora, her best friend, is a successful lawyer and she must turn to the person she thought she needed least. Omelogor is a financial powerhouse who begins to question how well she knows herself. And Kadiatou, Chiamaka’s housekeeper, is proudly raising her daughter in America—but faces an awful hardship. In Dream

Count, Adichie focuses on these women in a sparkling, transcendent novel that takes up the very nature of love itself. 
 

EDGE OF HONOR  Brad Thor –After six months abroad, Scot Harvath returns to a new administration, a new set of global priorities, and a power struggle—the likes of which the United States has never experienced.  Drawn into a web of deceit and deadly politics, he is thrust into a high-stakes conspiracy that could change the course of history. A cabal of shadowy elites is maneuvering for control and if they succeed, they will bring the country to its knees.

 

FOUR RED SWEATERS (NF)  Lucy Adlington – Jock, Anita, Chana, and Regina all faced the Holocaust in different ways. While they did not know each other—in fact had never met—each had a red sweater that would play a major part in their lives. In this absorbing and deeply moving account, award-winning clothes historian Lucy Adlington documents their stories, knitting together the experiences that fragmented their families and their lives.
 

HANG ON ST CHRISTOPHER  Adrian McKinty –  Riots, murder, chaos. It’s July 1992 and the Troubles in Northern Ireland continue. Detective Inspector Sean Duffy got his family safely away to Scotland.  Duffy’s a part-timer now, only returning to Belfast six days a month. But then a murder case falls into his lap.  A carjacking gone wrong and the death of a solitary, middle-aged painter. But the painter was an IRA assassin. So, the question becomes: Who hit the hit man and why?
 

THE HUMAN SCALE  Lawrence Wright – Tony Malik, an Irish-Arab FBI agent, specializes in tracking money.  When a relationship ends, Malik becomes intrigued by his Palestinian father's past. He decides to visit his ancestral homeland, accepting a seemingly simple FBI assignment along the way.  Upon arrival, Malik's finds that the Israeli police chief is murdered. Initially a suspect, Malik's investigative prowess soon earns him a place in the Israeli investigation.
 

THE IDAHO FOUR  James Patterson & Vicky Ward – The murders of four college students at the University of Idaho left us all with questions.  After 300 plus interviews, James Patterson and journalist Vicky Ward finally have the answers.  We know what the local police and FBI did right. And wrong. We’ve learned about the four heartbroken families. And we have the backstory for Bryan Kohberger, brilliant grad student, loner, apparent incel.  Now you are the jury. The evidence is in.
 

IT'S A LOVE STORY  Annabel Monaghan – Jane Jackson spent her adolescence as "Poor Janey Jakes," the punch line on America's fifth-favorite sitcom. Now acting as a Hollywood studio executive, she embraces a new mantra: Fake it till you make it.  Except maybe not this far. Desperate to get her first project greenlit and riled up by pompous cinematographer and one-time crush Dan Finnegan, she claimed that she could get mega popstar Jack Quinlan to write a song for the movie. Jack may have been her first kiss—and greatest source of shame—but she hasn’t spoken to him in twenty years.
 

KILLS WELL WITH OTHERS  Deanna Raybourn – After time laying low, assassins Billie, Helen, Mary Alice, and Natalie are called back into action. They have enjoyed their time off, but a professional killer wants to strangle someone...literally. When they are called by the head of the elite assassin organization known as the Museum, they are ready to tackle the challenge.  Someone on the inside has a list of important kills committed by Museum agents.  This new nemesis is murdering agents who got in the way of their power hungry plans and the aging quartet of killers is next.
 

KISS HER GOODBYE  Lisa Gardner – Recent Afghan refugee and young mother Sabera was last seen three weeks ago. The police haven’t opened a case, and her older, domineering husband seems unconcerned. Sabera's closest friend contacts missing persons expert Frankie Elkin just in time for a video of Sabera to surface—showing her walking away from the scene of a brutal double murder.   When her husband also disappears under mysterious circumstances and an attempt is made on her daughter’s life, Frankie realizes she must crack the code of this family's horrific past.
 

THE MAN MADE OF SMOKE  Alex North – Dan Garvie’s life has been haunted by the crime he witnessed as a child committed by a notorious serial killer. He has since become a criminal profiler, seeking justice for innocent victims. So when his father passes away under suspicious circumstances, Dan is determined to uncover the truth about his death. Is it possible that the monster he remembers from his childhood nightmares has returned after all these years?
 

MY FRIENDS  Fredrik Backman – In Benghazi, Khaled hears a story about a man eaten by a cat, and he feels that his life is  changed forever.  Khaled embarks on a journey that takes him to the West.  There, in an open society, Khaled begins to change. In a protest against the Qaddafi regime in London, Khaled finds himself injured, clinging to life, unable to leave Britain.  My Friends is a meditation on friendship and family, and the ways in which time tests—and frays—those bonds.
 

THE NAMES  Florence Knapp – In the wake of a catastrophic storm, Cora sets off with her daughter, Maia, to register her son's birth. Her husband is respected in the community but is terrifying and controlling at home. He intends for her to name the infant after him. But when the registrar asks for the name, Cora hesitates...  Spanning thirty-five years, what follows are three alternate and alternating versions of Cora's and her young son's lives, shaped by her choice of name.
 

THE NANTUCKET RESTAURANT  Pamela Kelley – Three sisters, each at her own crossroads in life, inherit a Nantucket restaurant and embrace working together.  Mandy, Emma and Jill  grew up together on Nantucket, but since have scattered. When their grandmother passes a week before her 99th birthday, she leaves them quite a surprise. In addition to her Nantucket home, they learn that they've inherited Mimi's Place, one of Nantucket's most popular restaurants. They had no idea that she was the silent owner of a restaurant, and no idea how they're going to handle this kind of inheritance.
 

WILD DARK SHORE  Charlotte McConaghy – A family on a remote island. A mysterious woman washed ashore. A rising storm on the horizon.  Dominic and his three children are caretakers of Shearwater, a tiny island not far from Antarctica. Shearwater was once full of researchers, but with sea levels rising, the Salts are now its final inhabitants. Until, during the worst storm the island has ever seen, a woman mysteriously washes ashore.  Isolation has affected the Salts, but as they nurse the woman, Rowan, back to strength, it begins to feel like she might just be what they need. Rowan, long accustomed to protecting herself, starts imagining a future where she could belong to someone again.

 

 

NEW BOOK PURCHASES AUGUST 2025

AN INSIDE JOB   Daniel Silva – Gabriel Allon has been awarded a commission to restore one of the most important paintings in Venice. But when he discovers the body of a mysterious woman floating in the waters of the Venetian Lagoon, he finds himself in a desperate race to recover a lost masterpiece by Leonardo da Vinci.
 

BLOOD TIES   Jo Nesbo – By all accounts, Carl and Roy Opgard are doing quite well for themselves in small town Os. Carl manages the area’s swanky spa and hotel, while Roy runs a gas station and has grand plans to build it out into an entire amusement park.  Then news breaks about a new highway that will bypass Os.   It’s clear that something has to be done -  even if the methods are dirty. Fortunately, Carl and Roy have experience with just that kind of work. 
 

THE BOOK CLUB FOR TROUBLESOME WOMEN (LP)   Marie Bostwick – By 1960s standards, Margaret is living the dream. She has a husband, children, and a home in the suburbs.  But it doesn't feel like enough.  Margaret invents a book club get-together for a mysterious new neighbor where the women share reactions to the controversial bestseller The Feminine Mystique.  They begin to discover that the American dream they'd been sold isn't all roses and sunshine.  
 

BROKEN FIELDS   Marcie Rendon – Minnesota, 1970s:  Cash Blackbear is doing fieldwork for a local farmer—until she finds him dead in the property’s rented farmhouse. The tenant, a Native field laborer, and his wife are missing, but Cash discovers their young daughter cowering under a bed. The girl, a possible witness to the killing, is too terrified to speak.
 

CODED JUSTICE   Stacy Abrams – Former Supreme Court clerk Avery Keene is back . . . at a prestigious high-end law firm in Washington, D.C. Avery is now working as an internal investigator when a high-profile client seeks her out. Camasca Enterprises has developed a new integrated AI system poised to revolutionize the medical industry. To prove its potential, Camasca’s charismatic founder has picked a complicated target: delivering cutting-edge health care to his fellow veterans. The potential is staggering, but their prototype has been plagued by a series of disturbing anomalies—culminating in the mysterious death of a beloved Camasca engineer.
 

COURTROOM DRAMA   Neely Tubati Alexander – Sydney Parks is looking forward to serving jury duty. When Margot Kitsch, a cast member of the hit reality show Authentic Moms of Malibu is arrested after the untimely death of her cast member husband, Sydney knows being selected for the jury is the most interesting thing that ever happened to her.  However, it doesn’t take long for Sydney to realize that being part of a sequestered jury in a high-profile case is not at all what legal dramas had led her to expect.  
 

THE DOORMAN       Chris Pavone – Chicky Diaz is everyone’s favorite doorman at the Bohemia, home of celebrities, financiers, and New York’s cultural elite.  Up in the penthouse, Emily Longworth has the perfect-looking everything, all except her husband, whom she quietly loathes.  But  their prenup is iron-clad, and Emily can’t leave him – yet.  And downstairs in 2a, Julian Sonnenberg just received a devastating phone call.   Meanwhile, the building’s Black and Hispanic staff is disturbed that a Black man has just been killed by the police, leading to a long night of violence across the tinderbox city.
 

FAGIN THE THIEF   Allison Epstein – Long before Oliver Twist stumbled onto the scene, Jacob Fagin was scratching out a life for himself in the dark alleys of nineteenth-century London. Born in the Jewish enclave of Stepney shortly after his father was executed as a thief, Jacob's whole world is his open-minded mother, Leah. But Jacob’s prospects are forever altered when a light-fingered pickpocket takes Jacob under his wing and teaches him a trade that pays far better than the neighborhood boys could possibly dream.
 

THE FIFTEEN (NF)   William Geraux – America needed to house nearly 400,000 German POWs.  However, inside POW camps there were Nazi power games playing out.   Ardent Nazis started killing Germans who befriended their captors.  Fifteen POWs were sentenced to death for murdering fellow POWs.  In response, German authorities condemned fifteen American POWs to death, and then Germany proposed a trade: fifteen Germans for fifteen Americans,  
 

THE HAMPTON’S LAWYER   James Patterson & Mike Lupica – The Hamptons on Long Island is known for its luxury lifestyle—and its exclusive legal advice.  When Jane Smith takes on a famous celebrity client, she’s armed and ready: with brilliant arguments, hard evidence—and two Glocks.  Yet she’s chased down, shot at, and risks contempt of court. 
Knowing every day in court could be her last, she’s a survivor. For now.
 

INTO THE GRAY ZONE   Brad Taylor – While on a routine security job in India, Pike Logan foils an attack on a meeting between the CIA and India’s intelligence service. Both agencies believe it’s only a minor terrorist attack, but Pike suspects something more sinister.  He begins to believe that outside powers are attacking India in the gray zone between peace and war, using terrorist groups for economic gain. But the terrorists have their own agenda.
 

THE LIBRARIANS OF LISBON   Suzanne Nelson – Lisbon 1943. As two American librarians are drawn into a city of dangerous subterfuge and unexpected love affairs, they must choose between their missions and the men they love. Inspired by real historical figures, this is a captivating story of two remarkable women, their bravery and heartache, and a friendship that withstands the ravages of war.
 

THE LOVE HATERS   Katherine Center – Katie Vaughn has been burned by love in the past—now she may be lighting her career on fire. She has two choices: wait to get laid off from her job or take a career-making gig profiling Tom Hutcheson, a Coast Guard rescue swimmer in Key West. The catch? Katie’s not qualified. She can’t swim—but pretends that she can.
 

MICHAEL WITHOUT APOLOGY   Catherine Ryan Hyde – Michael Woodbine was seven years old when a fireworks accident scarred him and placed him in foster care. Now a college freshman, he is still trying to hide the effects of his trauma from everyone and himself.  When Michael signs up for a film class, he is encouraged to make a documentary that explores body image and self-perception. Michael places an ad seeking people who feel unattractive and rejected by society—and is surprised to learn that this is essentially everyone. 
 

A MOTHER’S LOVE   Danielle Steel – Between her daughter’s wedding and her looming fiftieth birthday, bestselling author Halley Holbrook finds herself reflecting. Raising her twins is her proudest accomplishment. Halley has been able to give them the loving and safe home she never had, having survived a childhood so traumatic she’s never talked about it with her girls. Long ago, Halley decided to live in the sunlight of the present, not the dark shadows of the past.
 

MURDER IN AN IRISH GARDEN   Carleene O’Connor – While Siobhán studies for her Detective Sargeant exams, her brother plans to enter Kilbane’s Top Garden Contest.  But trouble brews when he hires a mercurial landscape designer with an unflattering reputation and questionable practices that nearly eclipse her talents—and causes chaos at the competition.  A winning garden emerges from the controversy, with a spectacular golden statue in the center of the display. But in a devastating twist, the work of art leads to the shocking discovery of a bold and brutal work of murder.
 

THE PERFECT DIVORCE   Jeneva Rose – It’s been eleven years since high-powered attorney Sarah Morgan defended her husband, Adam, against the charge of murdering his mistress. Sarah has long since moved on, starting a family with her new husband, Bob Miller, and changing careers. Her life is back to being exactly how she always wanted … or is it?  After discovering Bob engaged in a one-night stand, Sarah files for divorce. However, amid their ugly separation, new DNA evidence is uncovered in the case against Adam, forcing the police to reopen the investigation and putting Sarah right back in the spotlight. 
 

THE VIEW FROM LAKE COMO   Adriana Trigiani – Jess Capodimonte Baratta is not living the life of her dreams. Not even close.  In blue-collar Lake Como, New Jersey, family comes first. Recently divorced from her “perfect husband," Jess moves into her parents’ basement.  Despite her role as the family drudge, Jess is also a talented draftswoman in the marble business run by her uncle, who believes she can do anything   When the family suffers an unexpected loss, the shock unearths long-buried secrets that will force Jess to question her loyalty to those she trusted. Fueled by her lost dreams, Jess takes fate into her own hands and escapes to her ancestral home, Carrara, Italy.
 

WHERE THE RIVERS MERGE   Mary Alice Monroe – 1908: In the Lowcountry of South Carolina, Mayfield, the estate held by the Rivers family, is the treasured home of young Eliza. A free spirit, she refuses to be confined by society  but  the Great War, coastal storms, and family turmoil bring challenges to Eliza, as she struggles with the patriarchal traditions of a bygone era.  1988: At 88, Eliza has fought a lifetime to save her beloved Mayfield. Now, she must make decisions that will assure the future of the land and her family—or watch them both be split apart. 
 

THE WOMAN IN SUITE 11   Ruth Ware –  Three years after the birth of her youngest child, Lo Blacklock is ready to reestablish her journalism career, but post-pandemic travel journalism is a very different landscape from the one she left ten years ago.  She is invited to the opening of a luxury hotel - a chateau on the shores of Lake Geneva.   Lo gets a late-night call asking her to come to the owner’s hotel room, where she is met by a woman claiming to be his mistress, and in life-or-death jeopardy.  What follows is a thrilling cat-and-mouse pursuit across Europe,,, 

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NEW BOOK PURCHASES July 2025

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2 SISTERS MURDER INVSTIGATIONS James Patterson & Candice Fox - Rhonda and Barbara “Baby” Bird are half-sisters—and full partners in their Los Angeles detective agency.  Rhonda, a former attorney, takes a by-the-book approach, while teenage Baby relies on her street smarts.  But when they take a controversial case of a loner whose popular wife has gone missing, they’re accused of not being able to tell a client from a killer.  The Bird sisters don’t share much…except their willingness to fight.

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BADLANDS Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child - In the New Mexico badlands, the skeleton of a woman is found—and the case is assigned to FBI Agent Corrie Swanson. The victim walked into the desert, shedding clothes as she went, and died in agony of heatstroke and thirst. Two rare artifacts are found clutched in her bony hands—lightning stones used by the ancient Chaco people to summon the gods.  Is it suicide or… sacrifice? 

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THE BOOMERANG Robert Bailey - The president of the United States has terminal cancer. Chief of Staff Eli James, his faithful consigliere and best friend, is one of the few who know. But just as the president’s condition mysteriously improves, Eli’s hit with another blow: his daughter has cancer too. Eli turns to Big Pharma’s top lobbyist for advice, but their meeting yields more questions than answers. As he races along a twisted trail to the truth, he stumbles upon a devastating cover-up worth billions of dollars—and millions of lives.

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DON’T LET HIM IN Lisa Jewel - Nick Radcliffe is a man of substance and good taste. He has a smile that could melt the coldest heart and a knack for putting others at ease. He’s just what Nina Swann needed in her life after her husband’s unexpected death. But to Nina’s adult daughter, Ash, Nick seems too slick, too polished, too good to be true. Without telling her mother, Ash begins digging into Nick’s past. What she finds is more than unsettling…

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CLOSE YOUR EYES AND COUNT TO 10 Lisa Unger - Charismatic daredevil and extreme adventurer Maverick Dillan invites you to the ultimate game of hide-and-seek. But as the players gather on Falcao Island, the event quickly spirals into a chilling test of survival. A storm rages as a deadly threat stalks the contestants, turning the challenge into something far more sinister than the social media stunt it was intended to be.

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FIGHT OR FLIGHT Fern Michaels - From the comfort of her mountain-top retreat, Katherine Winston creates her bestselling young adult series, Girls with Unusual Powers. No one in the nearby small town has any idea of her true identity. To them, she’s just the reclusive woman on the mountain, and Katherine is grateful to be left alone. It wasn’t always this way. Though her parents were as neglectful as they were wealthy, Katherine built up a busy, full life. Then tragedy struck and she retreated, panic-stricken at the idea of engaging with anyone again. 

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THE FIRST GENTLEMAN  James Patterson & Bill Clinton - The President of the United States is up for reelection.  Her husband is on trial for murder.  Is the First Gentleman a killer?  A pair of brilliant investigative journalists set out to answer that burning question about the NFL star-turned-political spouse. 

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HEARTWOOD Amity Gaige - In the Maine woods, an Appalachian Trail hiker goes missing. She is forty-two-year-old Valerie Gillis. Alone in the wilderness, she pours her thoughts into letters to her mother as she battles the elements and struggles to keep hoping. Beverly, a determined Maine State Game Warden, is tasked with finding Valerie. Meanwhile, Lena, a seventy-six-year-old birdwatcher in a retirement community, becomes an unexpected armchair detective. 

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HOMESEEKING Karissa Chen - From WWII to 2008, this deeply moving story follows one couple across sixty years as world events pull them together and apart, illuminating the Chinese diaspora and finding a home far from your homeland. Homeseeking follows the separated lovers through six decades of Chinese history as war, famine, and opportunity take them separately to Hong Kong, Taiwan, New York, and California. Throughout, Haiwen holds his memories close while Suchi forces herself to look only forward, neither losing sight of the home they hold in their hearts.

 

IT TAKES A PSYCHIC Jayne Castle - On an alien planet, Leona Griffin is a para-archeologist. Her high profile

attracts the attention of an organization of elite, secretive collectors. They want her to authenticate the artifacts that aspiring members submit as evidence to join their group. At the reception, Leona is shocked to discover a powerful Old-World object known as Pandora’s Box. And she’s not the only one interested in that artifact. Oliver Rancourt is also there, and Leona knows she must not underestimate him.

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A MIND OF HER OWN Danielle Steel - Alexandra Bouvier is born in Paris in 1900. At age fourteen, Alex’s comfortable life

ends as war erupts. At eighteen, she has lost much from the war and disease. With her American grandfather’s support, she becomes a newspaper intern and meets reporter Oliver Foster, who also has known devastating loss, and the two are drawn to each other, though both fear any attachment. As it turns out, Alex has good reason to be cautious.

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THE PARIS EXPRESS Emma Donoghue - Based on an 1895 disaster, the train is packed with characters from Brittany, Russia, Ireland, Algeria, Pennsylvania, and Cambodia. Politicians hurry back to Paris to vote; a medical student suspects a girl may be dying; a secretary tries to convince her boss of the potential of moving pictures; two of the train’s crew build a life away from their wives; a young anarchist makes a terrifying plan, and much more.

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ROBERT B. PARKER’S HOT PROPERTY Mike Lupica - Spenser gets word that Rita Fiore has been shot. Rita’s an ever-present figure who has become family, and family will always be protected. With Rita’s life hanging in the balance, it’s up to him to investigate, even if it means unearthing secrets that lead him into an age-old game of lies and deceit.

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SHADOW OF THE SOLSTICE Anne Hillerman - The Navajo Nation police are on high alert when a U.S. Cabinet Secretary schedules a trip to the little Navajo town of Shiprock, New Mexico. Tensions escalate when the body of a stranger is found. Is it coincidence that a violent cult arrives outside Shiprock the same week to celebrate the summer solstice? Officer Bernadette Manuelito finds a young boy at grave risk, abused women, and other shocking discoveries that plunge her and Lt. Jim Chee into a volatile and deadly situation.

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SILENT AS THE GRAVE Rhys Bowen & Clare Broyles - Molly Murphy Sullivan’s dear friend, Ryan O’Hara, is shooting a movie. He invites Molly and the children to visit the set and watch the excitement. Molly’s adopted daughter, Bridie, is called to act in a scene. Turns out she’s a natural and is asked to star in the rest of the film. But soon, special effects start to malfunction and then turn deadly. With rumors of a feud between studios, Molly believes these malfunctions are sabotage. She goes undercover on set to investigate the burgeoning film war. 

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THE STOLEN LIFE OF COLETTE MARCEAU Kristen Harmel - Colette Marceau has been stealing jewels for as long as she can remember. During the war, Annabel and Colette worked side by side in Paris to fund the French Resistance. But one night in 1942, it all went wrong. Annabel was arrested, and Colette’s four-year-old sister, Liliane, disappeared, along with a diamond bracelet hidden in her nightgown for safekeeping. Soon after, Annabel was executed, and Liliane’s body was found floating in the Seine—but the bracelet was nowhere to be found. Seventy years later, the long-missing bracelet suddenly turns up.

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STONE YARD DEVOTIONAL Charlotte Wood - Burnt out, a middle-aged woman leaves Sydney to return to the place she grew up, taking refuge in a small religious community. She doesn't believe in God, but finds herself living there almost by accident. Then three things happen. First comes a terrible mouse plague. Second is the return of the skeletal remains of a sister, presumed murdered. And finally, a troubling visitor plunges the narrator further back into her past.

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STUART WOODS’ FINDERS KEEPERS Brett Battles - Stone Barrington is in New York City to catch up with his old friend Jack Coulter. Over lunch, Jack requests Stone’s help in settling his niece Sara into city life post-divorce. Always one to please, Stone takes Sara under his wing. But when various men from Sara’s past start getting hurt, and Jack’s loved ones find themselves a target in a deadly scheme, it’s up to Stone to put the pieces together.

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THE SUMMER GUESTS Tess Gerritsen - Former spy Maggie Bird retired to Purity, Maine. But enemies from her past soon threaten to destroy everything. Maggie survived, thanks to her wits and the Martini Club, ex-CIA friends. After a teenager vanishes—and Maggie’s neighbor becomes the prime suspect—she joins the investigation. But the girl’s wealthy family pushes for an arrest. And when authorities discover a long-dead corpse in a nearby pond, the case becomes doubly complicated, with unthinkable ties to long-buried secrets.

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THE UNEXPECTED DIVA (LP) Tiffany L Warren - Born into slavery, Elizabeth Taylor Greenfield has been raised in the safety of Philadelphia’s Quaker community by a wealthy adoptive mother. Sheltered and educated, Eliza’s happy childhood always included music lessons to nurture her unique gift: a glorious three octave singing voice that leaves listeners in awe. But young Eliza’s world is thrown into a tailspin when her mother dies. Eliza’s inheritance is contested by her mother’s white cousins, leaving her few options. When a chance performance leads to a surprising opportunity, fearless Eliza seizes her moment. Within a year she is touring America, singing to packed houses, and igniting controversy wherever she goes.