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#1 New York Times bestselling author Max Brooks can see the future. Or at least he can imagine it more convincingly (and frighteningly) than most. But even when he’s looking at a worst-case scenario, as he did in his novel World War Z, he injects enough faith in humanity to keep me reading and rooting for the characters he’s brought to life.

Set decades in the future, this speculative story takes the form of a desperate letter written by an officer in the Chinese army to a civilian friend back home. During the invasion of Los Angeles, superior technology—weapons, media, AI-assisted strategy—was supposed to crush all resistance. But the reality is a little more complicated. As a guerrilla war grinds on, the unnamed officer finds himself questioning everything he thought he knew. Speaking out is the most dangerous thing he could do—but it also may be the only way to save his son from following him into another “forever war.”

This is not a story about technology, despite the fascinating details Max drops in. It’s about ordinary people—on both sides—putting their lives on the line for a better world.

—Kjersti Egerdahl, Editor

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At countless sleepovers during my childhood, I’d stand in front of a mirror, chant “Bloody Mary” three times, and scream. The girls on the other side of the bathroom door would explode with laughter, and we would all compare stories about the time we were sure we saw the specter eager for our souls.

I was (pretty) sure Bloody Mary wasn’t real. But in Kat Davis’s unsettling debut, In a Dark Mirror, that’s not the case. Maddie was twelve the first time she played the game with Lana, serving “Him”—an apparently otherworldly presence with unsettling demands. And she was twelve when she was arrested for attempted murder. Now twenty-two and rehabilitated, Maddie isn’t sure what to think when she finds an online community that reveres her crime and claims to serve Him.

Told in a dual timeline, In a Dark Mirror captures the true-crime vibe and emotional vulnerability of Jess Lourey’s The Quarry Girls and blends it with the haunting and relevant horror of early Stephen King and a terrifying urban myth. The result is an unputdownable novel that reads like a viral Creepypasta story and is sure to haunt even my waking hours.

—Jessica Tribble Wells, Editor

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Have you ever taken a quiet stroll through an old rural cemetery on a spring day? I used to love walking through the field of gravestones behind my grandmother’s house, uncovering the worn letters etched into the flat stone markers, with a light breeze at my back, lazy bumblebees circling my ankles, and humidity sticking loose tendrils of hair to my neck. It felt peaceful and not-quite sad but…wistful.

Who walked those paths before me, and whose lives are commemorated by the grown-over graves? And for that matter, who carved the stones, dedicating their artistry and skill to preserving the memory of others?

Mary Ellen Taylor’s latest novel, The Promise of Tomorrow, explores how the mementos we leave behind—headstones, photographs, love letters, family recipes, and unfinished bucket lists—can change the lives of those who loved us, sometimes for generations. Our main character, Olympia, returns home for a happy occasion, but, once there, she must reckon with some of the sadness she’d run from.

It’s a poignant, heartfelt story that brought me back to memories of my grandmother’s house with that grassy field, her Sunday dinners, and the boundless curiosity I felt about the family members who lived before me and who I never met.

—Alison Dasho, Editor

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In this immersive page-turner from the two-time winner of the Edgar Allan Poe Award—the most prestigious award for the mystery genre—Lori Roy has crafted a novel with both a twisty plot and emotional heft. I will admit…there were some tears shed while reading the final pages.

Addie Anne Buckley is about to turn eighteen and follow in her Aunt Jean’s footsteps to Hollywood, and her boyfriend, Truitt Holt, is successfully running the local bolita lottery, when their lives crash into the Tampa Mafia, an obsessive photographer, and more than one dead body. They will be put into dangerous—potentially fatal—positions in order to save all they hold dear. Oh, and Addie’s Aunt Jean? She’s also known by the name Marilyn Monroe.

Lake County is a truly mesmerizing read from one of the most acclaimed mystery writers working today. New York Times bestselling author Ace Atkins might have said it best in his praise for Lake County: “James M. Cain meets Harper Lee.”

—Liz Pearsons, Editor

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Do you believe that love is fated? That perhaps, it can even be predicted—if you know where to look or who to ask? Mimi Perkins, the loveable protagonist of Let’s Pretend This Will Work, certainly does, and so when her quirky psychic delivers the news that she is soon to find her great love, she dives in headfirst to her current, whirlwind romance. Sure, Ren has proposed after only knowing her for a few months, and she hasn’t even met his adult daughters, but this has been foretold. What could possibly go wrong?

Well, it turns out, quite a lot. The same night as their engagement, Ren’s ex-wife is in a car accident, and he returns to his old home to care for his family. Mimi leaves behind her life in the big city to be near her fiancé, accepting a job at the local daycare. Ren is busy, but Mimi has more than enough to fill her time, from the wild children to the unorthodox ways of the center to the parental drama. Her heart is fuller than it has ever been…until the daycare itself is threatened, as is her relationship status. Mimi must decide what she’s willing to fight for, or if maybe, just maybe, she should just leave it up to the stars.

While I can’t say that I’ve ever been to a psychic, I can certainly see the appeal in leaving matters of life and love up to fate. But the ever-practical side of me believes that sometimes even fate can use a little nudge—which Mimi is about to find out in this delightful, heartwarming, romantic tale from the bestselling author of Matchmaking for Beginners.

—Melissa Valentine, Editor

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The first time aspiring financial advisor Louis Martin “Marty” Blazer met with an NFL prospect, the young man asked if Marty had any “hot dog money” for him. Instantly understanding, Marty peeled off a few hundreds and laid them in the player’s palm, which jumpstarted Marty’s professional rise, advising professional athletes and moving in the elite circles that surround them. I, for one, could never be that savvy, but from the moment those bills landed in an outstretched hand, I was hooked on this true story of corruption, greed, and an industry-wide reckoning.

Drawing convincing parallels to organized crime, New York Times bestselling journalist Guy Lawson tells the true story of the complex and seedy world surrounding the NCAA through the eyes of Marty Blazer, the unlikely man whose federal fraud indictment led to his undercover work with the FBI and whose testimony continues to drive change in the billion-dollar industry of college sports. Hot Dog Money is both a glittering portrait of the talent and exploitation that drives the American institution of the NCAA and a shocking look inside an FBI investigation.

Get ready for an insider’s view of yachts, Miami clubs, and Vegas hotel rooms where talented athletes’ futures are bought and sold by the very people who should be protecting them. This story is absorbing and full of insight into one of our most celebrated institutions.

—Laura Van der Veer, Editor

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Namrata Patel’s stories are filled with tender moments of family and friendship, a dash of mystery, and Indian-American flavor. In this new novel, our main protagonist, Tulsi Gupta, must decide whether to follow in the footsteps of the generations of Gupta women before her or find a path that’s all her own.

Tulsi, her mother, Devi, and her grandmother Aruna ba run a small spice shop in Salem, Massachusetts. The Gupta women are known for their healing concoctions, using thousands of years of Ayurvedic knowledge to create blends of medicinal spices and herbs for customers to help heal their ailments. Tulsi’s mother and grandmother expect her to take over the shop…but Tulsi? She’s not sure she wants to keep up this centuries-old tradition. When she finds a letter her grandmother wrote, Tulsi uncovers secrets that could change all of their lives. Now, Tulsi is determined to heal old family wounds while finding her true purpose.

This story moved me. I felt Tulsi’s personal journey as she struggled to combat expectations and continue a family’s legacy—whatever that may look like. I hope you enjoy this beautiful and deeply nuanced read as much as I did.

—Megha Parekh, Editor

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If my child went missing from school and, fifteen years later, she had still not been found, could I abandon hope of uncovering what really happened? Could I ever forgive? These are questions I pray I never have to ask myself—but that haunted my thoughts long after I put Girl, Missing down.

The authors leverage this most desperate of scenarios so well that you’re at once caught up in the terrifying set-up of events. While the school community might have forgotten, Gem is a mother who cannot forget and is still in a desperate search for the truth. So when remains are found at the school all those years later, Gem wants answers.

Gem’s plight and heartache dominate this novel. As she continues to battle social status and authorities who would rather forget past events, Gem’s tenacity shines through…but so do the cracks that this upheaval has caused to her spirit.

Exploring relatable themes such as single parenting, motherhood, and loss, Girl, Missing is a blistering tale of psychological suspense that pulled at my heartstrings and had me guessing until the very last chapter.

—Sammia Hamer, Editor

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In this heartwarming and #uglycry time-travel romance for fans of Taylor Jenkins Reid’s Maybe in Another Life and the movie About Time, Julia and Alex’s love story will have you swooning and wondering just how far you would go to save the love of your life.

Julia’s life seems to be falling apart. Job, friends, love life…nothing seems to be going to plan. Plus, at twenty-five, she’s now developed the same narcolepsy that her mother had, so she can add falling asleep at tables in restaurants and on the tube ride home—and more embarrassing moments—to that list. The only good thing in her life is her reoccurring dream about her perfect man…She knows Alex isn’t real, but right now she’ll take him existing in her incredibly realistic dreams over her dead-end life any day.

Until she finds out that Alex actually did exist—but he died one year ago. How can Julia be dreaming about a man who used to be alive but whom she never met? How can she feel so certain that he is the one? Confused, Julia falls into her dream once again, this time knowing she’ll do anything to save Alex and give them a chance at a “happily ever after”—only to wake up and discover that her dream might not have been a dream at all…

—Victoria Oundjian, Editor

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