Showing posts with label Denny S. Bryce. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Denny S. Bryce. Show all posts

Monday, April 25, 2022

Tuesday Tomorrow

My Life Solving America's Cold Cases by Paul Holes
Published by: Celadon Books
Publication Date: April 26th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the detective who found the Golden State Killer, a memoir of investigating America’s toughest cold cases and the rewards - and toll - of a life solving crime.

I order another bourbon, neat. This is the drink that will flip the switch. I don’t even know how I got here, to this place, to this point. Something is happening to me lately. I’m drinking too much. My sheets are soaking wet when I wake up from nightmares of decaying corpses. I order another drink and swig it, trying to forget about the latest case I can’t shake.

Crime solving for me is more complex than the challenge of the hunt, or the process of piecing together a scientific puzzle. The thought of good people suffering drives me, for better or worse, to the point of obsession. People always ask how I am able to detach from the horrors of my work. Part of it is an innate capacity to compartmentalize; the rest is experience and exposure, and I’ve had plenty of both. But I have always taken pride in the fact that I can keep my feelings locked up to get the job done. It’s only been recently that it feels like all that suppressed darkness is beginning to seep out.

When I look back at my long career, there is a lot I am proud of. I have caught some of the most notorious killers of the twenty-first century and brought justice and closure for their victims and families. I want to tell you about a lifetime solving these cold cases, from Laci Peterson to Jaycee Dugard to the Pittsburg homicides to, yes, my twenty-year-long hunt for the Golden State Killer.

But a deeper question eats at me as I ask myself, at what cost? I have sacrificed relationships, joy - even fatherhood - because the pursuit of evil always came first. Did I make the right choice? It’s something I grapple with every day. Yet as I stand in the spot where a young girl took her last breath, as I look into the eyes of her family, I know that, for me, there has never been a choice. "I don’t know if I can solve your case," I whisper. "But I promise I will do my best."

It is a promise I know I can keep."

I am a total fangirl of Paul Holes because of the Golden State Killer, therefore this book isn't just on my to buy list, I'm getting a signed first edition!

The Mad Girls of New York by Maya Rodale
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: April 26th, 2022
Format: Paperback, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"An exciting novel based on the fearless reporter Nellie Bly, who would stop at nothing to expose injustices against women in early 19th century New York, even at the risk of her own life and freedom.

In 1887 New York City, Nellie Bly has ambitions beyond writing for the ladies pages, but all the editors on Newspaper Row think women are too emotional, respectable and delicate to do the job. But then the New York World challenges her to an assignment she'd be mad to accept and mad to refuse: go undercover as a patient at Blackwell's Island Insane Asylum for Women.

For months, rumors have been swirling about deplorable conditions at Blackwell’s, but no reporter can get in - that is, until Nellie feigns insanity, gets committed and attempts to survive ten days in the madhouse. Inside, she discovers horrors beyond comprehension. It's an investigation that could make her career - if she can get out to tell it before two rival reporters scoop her story.

From USA Today bestselling author Maya Rodale comes a rollicking historical adventure series about the outrageous intrigues and bold flirtations of the most famous female reporter - and a groundbreaking rebel - of New York City’s Gilded Age."

As I have been saying, Nellie Bly is the It Girl of the moment!

The Children on the Hill by Jennifer McMahon
Published by: Gallery/Scout Press
Publication Date: April 26th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the New York Times bestselling author of The Drowning Kind comes a genre-defying new novel, inspired by Mary Shelley’s masterpiece Frankenstein, that brilliantly explores the eerie mysteries of childhood and the evils perpetrated by the monsters among us.

1978: At her renowned treatment center in picturesque Vermont, the brilliant psychiatrist, Dr. Helen Hildreth, is acclaimed for her compassionate work with the mentally ill. But when she’s home with her cherished grandchildren, Vi and Eric, she’s just Gran - teaching them how to take care of their pets, preparing them home-cooked meals, providing them with care and attention and love.

Then one day Gran brings home a child to stay with the family. Iris - silent, hollow-eyed, skittish, and feral - does not behave like a normal girl.

Still, Violet is thrilled to have a new playmate. She and Eric invite Iris to join their Monster Club, where they catalogue all kinds of monsters and dream up ways to defeat them. Before long, Iris begins to come out of her shell. She and Vi and Eric do everything together: ride their bicycles, go to the drive-in, meet at their clubhouse in secret to hunt monsters. Because, as Vi explains, monsters are everywhere.

2019: Lizzy Shelley, the host of the popular podcast Monsters Among Us, is traveling to Vermont, where a young girl has been abducted, and a monster sighting has the town in an uproar. She’s determined to hunt it down, because Lizzy knows better than anyone that monsters are real - and one of them is her very own sister.

A haunting, vividly suspenseful page-turner from the “literary descendant of Shirley Jackson” (Chris Bohjalian, author of The Flight Attendant), The Children on the Hill takes us on a breathless journey to face the primal fears that lurk within us all."

If I hadn't already been sold with the Frankenstein vibe, name checking Shirley Jackson put the nail in the coffin.

In the Face of the Sun by Denny S. Bryce
Published by: Kensington
Publication Date: April 26th, 2022
Format: Paperback, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"At the height of the Civil Rights Movement amidst an America convulsed by the 1960s, a pregnant young woman and her brash, profane aunt embark upon an audacious road trip from Chicago to Los Angeles to confront a decades-old mystery from 1920’s Black Hollywood in this haunting novel of historical fiction from the author of Wild Women and the Blues.

A lime-gold Ford Mustang is parked outside my building. Unmistakable. My Aunt Daisy, the driver, is an audacious woman that no one in our family actually speaks to. They only speak about her - and not glowingly. Still, she is part of my escape plan...

1928, Los Angeles: The newly-built Hotel Somerville is the hotspot for the city's glittering African-American elite. It embodies prosperity and dreams of equality for all - especially Daisy Washington. An up-and-coming journalist, Daisy anonymously chronicles fierce activism and behind-the-scenes Hollywood scandals in order to save her family from poverty. But power in the City of Angels is also fueled by racism, greed, and betrayal. And even the most determined young woman can play too many secrets too far...

1968, Chicago: For Frankie Saunders, fleeing across America is her only escape from an abusive husband. But her rescuer is her reckless, profane Aunt Daisy, still reeling from her own shattered past. Frankie doesn't want to know what her aunt is up to so long as Daisy can get her to LA—and safety. But Frankie finds there’s no hiding from long-held secrets—or her own surprising strength.

Daisy will do whatever it takes to settle old scores and resolve the past - no matter the damage. And Frankie will come up against hard choices in the face of unexpected passion. Both must come to grips with what they need, what they’ve left behind - and all that lies ahead..."

An old Hollywood mystery? Yes please!

A Queen for All Seasons by Joanna Lumley
Published by: Hodder and Stoughton
Publication Date: April 26th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A sparkling celebration of our much-loved Queen Elizabeth II for her Platinum Jubilee including special writings and illuminating insights around key moments in her 70-year reign, introduced and edited by her biggest fan Joanna Lumley.

In 2022 Queen Elizabeth II celebrates seventy years as Queen and Head of the Commonwealth. She is Britain's longest reigning monarch and the very first to celebrate a Platinum Jubilee.

A Queen For All Seasons, edited and introduced by Joanna Lumley, is a perceptive, touching and engaging tribute to this unique woman. A treasure chest of first-hand writings, insights and snapshots of the Queen during key moments of her reign to form a vibrant portrait of the woman herself and the extraordinary role she plays.

Joanna Lumley guides us as we meet Princess Elizabeth in 1952, aged just twenty-five, and about to become Queen, and brings us through to the present day when, as our matriarch, the Queen keeps the national ship steady, including in moments of crisis and suffering. Here are unique perspectives into some of the most fascinating aspects of the Queen's life - her role as head of state at home and abroad, her private passions and public interests and a bird's-eye look at key events that have held the nation together and the Queen in our affection throughout Britain and beyond.

This book is a special and unique portrait of our constant Queen in an ever-changing world."

The obligatory anglophile Platinum Jubilee book post. With 100% more Joanna Lumley!

One Foot in the Fade by Luke Arnold
Published by: Orbit
Publication Date: April 26th, 2022
Format: Paperback, 464 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Welcome back to the streets of Sunder City, a darkly imagined world perfect for readers of Ben Aaronovitch and Jim Butcher.

In a city that lost its magic, an angel falls in a downtown street. His wings are feathered, whole - undeniably magical - the man clearly flew, because he left one hell of a mess when he plummeted into the sidewalk.

But what sent him up? What brought him down? And will the answers help Fetch bring the magic back for good?

Working alongside necromancers, genies, and shadowy secret societies, through the wildest forests and dingiest dive bars, this case will leave its mark on Fetch's body, his soul, and the fate of the world."

Luke Arnold should be gleeful for the Aaronovitch comparison, and not just in cover design.

Veil by Dylan Farrow
Published by: Wednesday Books
Publication Date: April 26th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Dylan Farrow's Veil is the thrilling sequel to Hush, one of the most talked about YA fantasies of 2020.

Shae’s entire world has been turned upside down, and everything she’s ever believed is a lie. More determined than ever, she sets out to the mysterious land of Gondal - a place forbidden to mention and resigned to myth - in search of a dangerous magical book that could alter the fabric of the world.

Following the trail of Ravod, the boy she thought she knew and trusted, Shae discovers there is far more to the young man who stole the Book of Days than she ever realized. Together, with her friends, Mads and Fiona, and a newfound ally in her fierce former trainer, Kennan, Shae crosses the borders of the only home she’s ever had and into a world ruled not by magic, but technology and industry - one fraught with perils of its own.

In a world shrouded in lies, Shae is desperate for answers and to restore peace, but who will lift the veil?"

Most talked about for a good reason!

Locke and Key: The Golden Age by Joe Hill, Gabriel Rodriguez, and Jay Fotos
Published by: IDW Publishing
Publication Date: April 26th, 2022
Format: Hardcover, 264 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The beloved graphic novel series turned Netflix hit continues!

Take a trip through the past and unlock moments from Keyhouse's long history that expand the saga of the Locke family in this collection of stories including the crossover with Neil Gaiman's Sandman Universe!

Contains three prequel short stories, "Small World," "Open the Moon," and, collected for the first time, "Face the Music," leading into the gut-wrenching tour de force that begins with ...In Pale Battalions Go... and culminates with the Sandman Universe crossover Hell and Gone.

Each of these individual stories takes a glimpse into the lives of the Locke family ancestors from the early 20th century as they use the keys to fight battles big and small. From the killing fields of Europe during WWI to the depths of Hell, the Lockes struggle desperately to keep the dark forces of their world at bay."

Wait, they didn't say that "Open the Moon" will also have you balling your eyes out!

Monday, March 29, 2021

Tuesday Tomorrow

Rule of Wolves by Leigh Bardugo
Published by: Imprint
Publication Date: March 30th, 2021
Format: Hardcover, 608 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The wolves are circling and a young king will face his greatest challenge in the explosive finale of the instant #1 New York Times–bestselling King of Scars Duology.

The Demon King. As Fjerda’s massive army prepares to invade, Nikolai Lantsov will summon every bit of his ingenuity and charm - and even the monster within - to win this fight. But a dark threat looms that cannot be defeated by a young king’s gift for the impossible.

The Stormwitch. Zoya Nazyalensky has lost too much to war. She saw her mentor die and her worst enemy resurrected, and she refuses to bury another friend. Now duty demands she embrace her powers to become the weapon her country needs. No matter the cost.

The Queen of Mourning. Deep undercover, Nina Zenik risks discovery and death as she wages war on Fjerda from inside its capital. But her desire for revenge may cost her country its chance at freedom and Nina the chance to heal her grieving heart.

King. General. Spy. Together they must find a way to forge a future in the darkness. Or watch a nation fall."

I may be more than a little Grishaverse obsessed. Have been since then beginning!

Bone Crier's Dawn by Kathryn Purdie
Published by: Katherine Tegen Books
Publication Date: March 30th, 2021
Format: Hardcover, 448 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Ailesse and her friends change the afterlife in the gripping conclusion to the fantasy duology that began with Bone Crier’s Moon from New York Times bestselling author Kathryn Purdie - perfect for fans of Stephanie Garber and Roshani Chokshi.

Love is a matter of life and death.

Bone Criers have been ferrying the dead into the afterlife for centuries, a dangerous duty only possible with the powers they gain from sacrificing their amourés, the men destined to love them and die. But Bone Criers Ailesse and Sabine - along with Ailesse’s love, Bastien - are working to chart their own course and rewrite the rules of the afterlife. If they don’t break the soul bond between Ailesse and her amouré, she could die - just as Bastien’s father did.

Sabine struggles to maintain her authority as matrone of her famille - the role always destined for her sister - even as she fights to control the violent jackal power within her.

Bastien is faced with a new dilemma as the spirits of the Underworld threaten the souls of his friends - and his father.

Ailesse attempts to resist her mother’s siren song as she’s drawn into her own version of the Underworld. How will she save her friends once she’s cut off from their world?

This pulse-pounding follow-up to Bone Crier’s Moon is a story of love, sisterhood, and determination as three friends find the courage and power to shatter the boundary between the living and the dead."

This week is the week of duologies!

John Updike: Novels 1978-1984 by John Updike 
Published by: Library of America
Publication Date: March 30th, 2021
Format: Hardcover, 950 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The third volume of Library of America's five-volume edition of Updike's novels features the continuation of the renowned Rabbit saga and two wickedly funny satires set in the charged realms of sex, politics, and family.

The third volume in our five-volume selected edition of the novels of John Updike includes three books: The Coup, one of Updike's most outlandish satires, set in a fictional African nation; Rabbit Is Rich, the third, and many say best, novel starring his most famous protagonist; and the wildly popular The Witches of Eastwick, which was memorably adapted in the film starring Cher, Michelle Pfeiffer, Susan Sarandon, and Jack Nicholson. In The Coup, a surprising departure from his prior novels, Updike stages a withering take down of an array of targets, from American materialism and its baleful effects on the developing world to the follies of Cold War geopolitics and the fevered megalomania of the dictatorial mind. In Rabbit Is Rich, the third installment of the Rabbit tetralogy, we meet up with Harry Angstrom, now 46, dealing as best he can with the challenges and cares of midlife, a time when "you are carrying the world in a sense and yet it seems more out of control than ever." In The Witches of Eastwick, Updike imagines a small New England town possessed by magic - at least as practiced by the female trio at its center who, freed from the burdens of their marriages, make common cause and unleash their whimsical witchcraft on Eastwick's narrow-minded townspeople."

Here for this volume, and REALLY here for The Witches of Eastwick!

The Ultimate Sherlock Holmes Puzzle Book by Pierre Berloquin
Published by: Wellfleet
Publication Date: March 30th, 2021
Format: Paperback, 204 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"This full-immersion experience challenges you to solve these slightly re-imagined scenarios inspired by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's most famous Sherlock Holmes short stories:

Interactive Challenge 1: Begins with a short introduction to the short story/crime, giving a summary of the main characters and plot. Following the introduction, 24 puzzles - including cryptograms, crosswords, logic conundrums, visual puzzles, ciphers, and word searches - are presented, for a grand total of 144 puzzles.

Interactive Challenge 2: Utilizes maps that readers use to maneuver around the chapters, completing each puzzle not in a chronological order but, instead, relying on tips and clues from each solved puzzle to travel around the book, like a maze.

Interactive Challenge 3: Drops hidden clues that accumulate into a final, overarching word search, which requires the completed clues from all 6 chapters.

The Puzzlecraft series from Wellfleet Press tackles some of the greatest conundrums of our time. Learn how to navigate the world’s trickiest mazes, solve the most complex crosswords, and finally get the answer to “Why is a raven like a writing desk?” Follow literature’s most famous detective, Sherlock Holmes, as he guides you through hundreds of challenging cross-fitness brain exercises inspired by his most popular cases and adventures. You can also train your memory to perform better and learn the meanings behind your own personality traits or the traits of others. These handy and portable paperbacks are sized perfectly to travel, whether on vacation or just for your daily commute. The intricately designed covers and bold colors will capture your attention as much as the engaging content inside."

A different kind of puzzle than what you're used to! Get your game face on!

Murder at Wedgefield Manor by Erica Ruth Neubauer
Published by: Kensington
Publication Date: March 30th, 2021
Format: Hardcover, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In the wake of World War I, Jane Wunderly - a thoroughly modern young American widow - is traveling abroad, enjoying the hospitality of an English lord and a perfectly proper manor house, until murder makes an unwelcome appearance...

England, 1926: Wedgefield Manor, deep in the tranquil Essex countryside, provides a welcome rest stop for Jane and her matchmaking Aunt Millie before their return to America. While Millie spends time with her long-lost daughter, Lillian, and their host, Lord Hughes, Jane fills the hours devouring mystery novels and taking flying lessons--much to Millie's disapproval. But any danger in the air is eclipsed by tragedy on the ground when one of the estate's mechanics, Air Force veteran Simon Marshall, is killed in a motorcar collision.

The sliced brake cables prove this was no accident, yet was the intended victim someone other than Simon? The house is full of suspects - visiting relations, secretive servants, strangers prowling the grounds at night - and also full of targets. The enigmatic Mr. Redvers, who helped Jane solve a murder in Egypt, arrives on the scene to once more offer his assistance. It seems that everyone at Wedgefield wants Jane to help protect the Hughes family. But while she searches for answers, is she overlooking a killer hiding in plain sight?"

It's not JUST that this book ticks all the right boxes, it's also that some of my FAVORITE people have recommended and blurbed it! John McDougall, Tasha Alexander, and Daniel Goldin to name a few!

Wild Women and the Blues by Denny S. Bryce
Published by: Kensington
Publication Date: March 30th, 2021
Format: Paperback, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Ordinary People meets Chicago the musical as played out in the city's Black Belt, Wild Women and the Blues is a mainstream historical fiction novel that weaves the stories of a grieving film student in 2015 and an ambitious chorus girl in 1925 in a tale of history, love, and secrets that only family can define.

In a stirring and impeccably researched novel of Jazz-age Chicago in all its vibrant life, two stories intertwine nearly a hundred years apart, as a chorus girl and a film student deal with loss, forgiveness, and love...in all its joy, sadness, and imperfections.

“Why would I talk to you about my life? I don't know you, and even if I did, I don't tell my story to just any boy with long hair, who probably smokes weed.You wanna hear about me. You gotta tell me something about you. To make this worth my while.”


1925: Chicago is the jazz capital of the world, and the Dreamland Café is the ritziest black-and-tan club in town. Honoree Dalcour is a sharecropper’s daughter, willing to work hard and dance every night on her way to the top. Dreamland offers a path to the good life, socializing with celebrities like Louis Armstrong and filmmaker Oscar Micheaux. But Chicago is also awash in bootleg whiskey, gambling, and gangsters. And a young woman driven by ambition might risk more than she can stand to lose.

2015: Film student Sawyer Hayes arrives at the bedside of 110-year-old Honoree Dalcour, still reeling from a devastating loss that has taken him right to the brink. Sawyer has rested all his hope on this frail but formidable woman, the only living link to the legendary Oscar Micheaux. If he’s right - if she can fill in the blanks in his research, perhaps he can complete his thesis and begin a new chapter in his life. But the links Honoree makes are not ones he’s expecting

Piece by piece, Honoree reveals her past and her secrets, while Sawyer fights tooth and nail to keep his. It’s a story of courage and ambition, hot jazz and illicit passions. And as past meets present, for Honoree, it’s a final chance to be truly heard and seen before it’s too late. No matter the cost..."

I'm reading this because Jazz-age Chicago was my grandmother's playground when she should have been at school! 

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