February 2021 list by Donalee Jacobs
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American Delirium
by Betina González
An English-language debut by an award-winning novelist from Buenos Aires depicts a small Midwestern community where people and wildlife begin behaving in violently erratic ways that prevent a taxidermist from revealing his findings about a mysterious hallucinogen.
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American Melancholy
by Joyce Carol Oates
The latest poetry collection by the National Book Award-winning author of We Were the Mulvaneys observes the human heart and mind while exploring subjects ranging from politics and racism to poverty and loss.
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An Extravagant Death
by Charles Finch
Sir Charles Lenox leaves Scotland Yard and travels to 1878 Newport where he investigates the supposed suicide of a beautiful debutante who threw herself off a cliff.
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The Bad Muslim Discount
by Syed Masood
A homesick Pakistani immigrant chafing against the strictures of his family’s new devout Muslim life in California and a young woman who barely escaped war-torn Baghdad upend their community in the aftermath of a fateful chance encounter.
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The Children of Red Peak
by Craig DiLouie
David Young, Deacon Price, and Beth Harris live with a dark secret. They grew up in an overbearing religious community on the isolated mountain Red Peak -- and they were a few of the only survivors of its horrific last days. Years later, the trauma of what they experienced never feels far behind. And when a fellow survivor commits suicide, they reunite to confront their past and share their stories. As long-repressed memories surface, they begin to recall different images of that final night. Images that raise questions with no easy, or even believable, answers. Together, they will return to Red Peak. But discovering the terrifying truth might make escaping a second time almost impossible.
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The Divines
by Ellie Eaton
Piecing together memories from her teen years at an elite English boarding school, Josephine gradually exposes a violent secret behind why the once-prestigious institution abruptly closed in disgrace.
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The Dress Shop on King Street
by Ashley Clark
In 1946, Millie Middleton left home to keep her heritage hidden, carrying the dream of owning a dress store. Decades later, when Harper's future in fashion falls apart, she visits her mentor Millie. When the revelation of a family secret leads them to Charleston and a rare opportunity, can they overcome doubts and failures for a chance at their dreams?
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Egg Shooters
by Laura Childs
Interrupting an emergency room shooter at the local hospital, Cackleberry Club Café owner Suzanne teams up with Petra and Toni to find the escaped killer before he tracks them down. By the best-selling author of the Tea Shop Mysteries.
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Faithless in Death
by J. D. Robb
Investigating a woman whose report about an artist’s murder is not adding up, Eve Dallas uncovers a fanatical conspiracy that leads to Dallas’ partnership with the FBI.
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Find Me in Havana
by Serena Burdick
Based on the true story of Estelita Rodriguez, a follow-up to the best-selling The Girls with No Names follows a young woman’s effort to retrace her late mother’s extraordinary life from Cuba to Hollywood.
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First Comes Like
by Alisha Rai
A social media influencer and makeup expert finds herself in a public relations jam after the son of a powerful Bollywood family begins private messaging her in the new novel from the author of The Right Swipe.
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The Forever Girl
by Jill Shalvis
Returning to Wildstone for her estranged best friend’s wedding, Maze reunites with her high school friends to confront the tragedy that tore them apart in the latest addition to the series following The Summer Deal.
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Hollow Empire
by Sam Hawke
When the deadly siege of Silasta awakens malevolent ancient spirits, Jovan and Kalina find the limits of their skills tested by their efforts to protect the city-state from magical assassins and treacherous politicians. By the author of City of Lies.
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How the One-Armed Sister Sweeps Her House
by Cherie Jones
Lala must deal with a chain of events that have terrible consequences when her petty criminal husband is interrupted in his attempt to rob one of the mansions in their "paradise" home of Baxter Beach, Barbados.
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Land of Big Numbers
by Te-Ping Chen
A debut story collection offering a kaleidoscopic portrait of life for contemporary Chinese people, set between China and the United States.
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The Lost Boys
by Faye Kellerman
Detectives Peter Decker and Tyler McAdams link two suspicious disappearances from an assisted living facility to the case of three missing campers, before the reappearance of a foster son’s biological mother upends Decker’s home life.
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The Love Proof
by Madeleine Henry
Inspired by her connect to her first love, Sophie, a physics prodigy, is determined to prove that true loves belong together in all realties, in this unusual love story about lasting connection, time and intuition.
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Missing and Endangered
by Judith A. Jance
Protecting a brilliant freshman whose homeschooled life has left her unprepared for the outside world, Jennifer invites the vulnerable girl home for a break that embroils Sheriff Joanna Brady in a volatile missing-person's case.
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Nick
by Michael F. Smith
A tale inspired by Fitzgerald’s famous narrator imagines the life of Nick Carraway before Gatsby, depicting a war-traumatized, heavily drinking man who embarks on a doomed journey of redemption from Paris to New Orleans.
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No Heaven for Good Boys
by Keisha Bush
Forced by an unscrupulous teacher to join a pack of child beggars, a Senegalese boy works beside his cousin to survive Dakar’s black-market organ traders, rival thieves and student protests.
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The Princess and the Rogue
by Kate Bateman
Accepting protection from Bow Street agent Sebastien Wolff, Princess Anastasia Denisova, undercover and on the run, succumbs to the attraction between them and wonders if their love stands a chance once her true identity is revealed.
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The Removed
by Brandon Hobson
Steeped in Cherokee myths and history, a novel about a fractured family reckoning with the tragic death of their son long ago—from National Book Award finalist Brandon Hobson.
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Serpentine
by Jonathan Kellerman
LAPD homicide lieutenant Milo Sturgis and brilliant psychologist Alex Delaware investigate a decades-unsolved case involving a rich and spoiled client, a mysterious birth mother and violent coincidences.
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A Stranger in Town
by Kelley Armstrong
Becoming suspicious when she notices that fewer residents are joining their fresh-start community, Detective Casey Duncan learns in the wake of a violent attack that the Rockton project is being shut down.
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To Dwell Among Cedars
by Connilyn Cossette
Determined to return the Ark of the Covenant to Shiloh, Levite musician Ronen never expected that Eliora, the Philistine girl he rescued years ago, would be part of the family he's tasked to deceive. As his attempts to charm her lead them in unexpected directions, they question their loyalties when their beliefs about the Ark and themselves are shaken.
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Tropic of Stupid
by Tim Dorsey
Embarking on a Sunshine State road trip to meet long-lost family members, Serge Storms discovers that he may be related to a notorious serial killer before encountering a park ranger with her own mysterious agenda.
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Truly Like Lightning
by David Duchovny
The X-Files star and best-selling author of Miss Subways follows the experiences of a former Hollywood stuntman-turned-Mormon polygamist who is blackmailed by an ambitious developer to enroll his children in public school.
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The Vineyard at Painted Moon
by Susan Mallery
Devastated by a divorce that she admits was inevitable, MacKenzie finds her attempts to move away from the only family and source of employment she has ever known complicated by an unplanned pregnancy.
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We Could Be Heroes
by Mike Chen
Two superpowered individuals who have lost all memory of their real identities use their respective powers to commit or fight crime before teaming up together to stop the mad scientist behind a devastating medical conspiracy.
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The Wrong Family
by Tarryn Fisher
An off-kilter narrator witnesses the slow unraveling of a couple’s strained marriage that erupts in unexpected ways, in a chilling tale of domestic suspense by the best-selling author of The Wives.
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