John's Picks

Matterhorn: A Novel of the Vietnam War (Hardcover)
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Published: Atlantic Monthly Press, 03/01/2010
Thirty years in the making, Marlantes’s epic debut is a dense, vivid narrative spanning many months in the lives of American troops in Vietnam as they trudge across enemy lines, encountering danger from opposing forces as well as on their home turf.
The Passage (Hardcover)
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Published: Ballantine Books, 06/01/2010
With The Passage, award-winning author Justin Cronin has written both a relentlessly suspenseful adventure and an epic chronicle of human endurance in the face of unprecedented catastrophe and unimaginable danger. Its inventive storytelling, masterful prose, and depth of human insight mark it as a crucial and transcendent work of modern fiction.
The Ice Princess (Hardcover)
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Published: Pegasus Books, 06/01/2010
The American debut of internationally bestselling Swedish writer Lackberg’s haunting first novel. A more than welcome addition to the growing ranks of Scandinavian fiction . . . Fjallbacka and its crimes and people will soon be as popular here as they are in her native Sweden.
—Peter Robinson, author of All the Colors of Darkness.
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Published: Skyhorse Publishing, 04/01/2010
Dream On is the hilarious and inspiring story of how recreational golfer Richardson was determined to break par within a year at his local golf course — and how he achieved this seemingly impossible feat.
Ritual (Hardcover)
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Published: Atlantic Monthly Press, 09/01/2008
The author of "The Devil of Nanking" delivers a taut, chilling tale of clandestine occult practices, New Age medicine, and the drug underground, set in a hypermodern urban landscape challenged by colliding immigrant cultures.
Union Atlantic (Hardcover)
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Published: Nan A. Talese, 01/01/2010
The eagerly anticipated debut novel from the author of the Pulitzer Prize finalist You Are Not a Stranger Here: a deeply affecting portrait of the modern gilded age, the first decade of the twenty-first century.
The Fifth Floor (Paperback)
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Published: Vintage, 07/01/2009
Private detective Michael Kelly returns in a lightning-paced, intricately woven mystery. When Kelly is hired by an old girlfriend to tail her abusive husband, he expects trouble of a domestic rather than a historical nature. Life, however, is not so simple.
Tinkers (Paperback)
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Published: Bellevue Literary Press, 01/01/2009
This compact, adamantine debut dips in and out of the consciousness of a New England patriarch named George Washington Crosby as he lies dying on a hospital bed in his living room, ‘right where they put the dining room table, fitted with its two extra leaves for holiday dinners.’ . . . In Harding’s skillful evocation, Crosby’s life, seen from its final moments, becomes a mosaic of memories, ‘showing him a different self every time he tried to make an assessment.’
—The New Yorker
Sharp Objects (Paperback)
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Published: Three Rivers Press, 07/01/2007
WICKED above her hipbone, GIRL across her heart
Words are like a road map to reporter Camille Preaker’s troubled past. Fresh from a brief stay at a psych hospital, Camille’s first assignment from the second-rate daily paper where she works brings her reluctantly back to her hometown to cover the murders of two preteen girls.
Child 44 (Hardcover)
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Published: Grand Central Publishing, 04/01/2008
A propulsive, relentless page-turner.
A terrifying evocation of a paranoid world where no one can be trusted.
A surprising, unexpected story of love and family, of hope and resilience.
CHILD 44 is a thriller unlike any you have ever read.
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Published: Para Publishing, 02/01/2007
Parachuting, The Skydiver’s handbook is directed to those looking into the sport for the first time as well as the advance jumper. Every phase of skydiving, canopy flying, safety and equipment is covered. An appendix of skydiving terminology is included.
Shoot to Thrill (Hardcover)
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Published: Putnam Adult, 04/01/2010
When Minneapolis homicide cops Gino Rolseth and Leo Magozzi are called to a derelict stretch of the Mississippi River, they see the bride, facedown, dead in the water. And when the Monkeewrench crew — computer geeks who made a fortune on games, now assisting the cops with special anticrime software — are invited by the FBI to investigate a series of murder videos posted to the Web, it’s not long before the group discovers the frightening link between the unlucky bride and the latest, most horrific use of the Internet yet. Using their skills to scour the Net to prevent more killings, the team must race against the clock . . . before it’s too late.
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Published: Broadway, 09/01/2008
The Art of the Personal Letter reclaims the lost art of letter writing, giving you the gift of leisurely expression and allowing you to write beautiful, enduring letters to the people you care about—be it by hand or on a computer. For any occasion—whether you’re reaching out to connect with a long-lost friend or you want to express condolences with grace—author Margaret Shepherd gives you both the inspiration and the tools to write a memorable and meaningful letter that will be cherished by its recipient for years.
The Third Rail (Hardcover)
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Published: Knopf, 04/01/2010
A woman is shot as she waits for her train to work. An hour later, a second woman is gunned down as she rides an elevated train through the Loop. Two hours after that, a church becomes the target of a chemical weapons attack. The city of Chicago is under siege, and Michael Kelly, cynical cop turned private investigator, just happens to be on the scene when all hell breaks loose.
The Third Rail is stylish, sophisticated, edge-of-your-seat suspense from a new modern master.
Pig Island (Mass Market Paperback)
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Published: Penguin (Non-Classics), 08/01/2008
Mo Hayder , a rising star of hardcore horror fiction, returns with a riveting and macabre novel that explores the evils committed in the name of faith. Journalist Joe Oakes is a born skeptic who makes his living exposing supernatural hoaxes. But his stay with a cult-like religious group on Scotland’s remote Pig Island might be enough to turn him into a believer. When the island erupts into bloodshed, Oakes must abandon everything he thought he knew to discover the secret behind exiled cult leader Malachi Dove, who lives alone behind a wall of electricity and toxic waste on the island’s far end. As the cataclysm of violence crashes down around him, Oakes is ultimately forced to confront the very nature of evil itself.
The Bricklayer (Hardcover)
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Published: William Morrow, 02/01/2010
_The Bricklayer_ is the pulse-pounding novel introducing Steve Vail, one of the most charismatic new heroes to come along in thriller fiction in many years. He's an ex–FBI agent who's been fired for insubordination but is lured back to the Bureau to work a case that has become more unsolvable—and more deadly—by the hour.
Still Missing (Hardcover)
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Published: St. Martin's Press, 07/01/2010
On the day she was abducted, Annie O’Sullivan, a thirty-two year old realtor, had three goals—sell a house, forget about a recent argument with her mother, and be on time for dinner with her ever- patient boyfriend. The open house is slow, but when her last visitor pulls up in a van as she’s about to leave, Annie thinks it just might be her lucky day after all. Interwoven with the story of the year Annie spent as the captive of psychopath in a remote mountain cabin, which unfolds through sessions with her psychiatrist, is a second narrative recounting events following her escape—her struggle to piece her shattered life back together and the ongoing police investigation into the identity of her captor.
The truth doesn’t always set you free.
Still Missing is that rare debut find—a shocking, visceral, brutal and beautifully crafted debut novel.
Purge (Paperback)
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Published: Grove Press, Black Cat, 04/01/2010
“This wonderfully subtle thriller . . . captures both the tragic consequences of one of Europe’s biggest conflicts and the universal horrors that war inflicts on women. With a tone somewhere between Ian McEwan’s Atonement and the best of the current crop of European crime novelists, this bitter gem promises great things from the talented Oksanen.”
—Kirkus Reviews
The Double Bind (Paperback)
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Published: Vintage, 02/01/2008
When Laurel Estabrook is attacked while riding her bicycle through Vermont’s back roads, her life is forever changed. Formerly outgoing, Laurel withdraws into her photography, spending all her free time at a homeless shelter. There she meets Bobbie Crocker, a man with a history of mental illness and a box of photographs that he won’t let anyone see. When Bobbie dies, Laurel discovers a deeply hidden secret–a story that leads her far from her old life, and into a cat-and-mouse game with pursuers who claim they want to save her.
In a tale that travels between the Roaring Twenties and the twenty-first century, between Jay Gatsby’s Long Island and rural New England, bestselling author Chris Bohjalian has written his most extraordinary novel yet.
Birdman (Mass Market Paperback)
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Published: Dell, 10/01/2000
With the forensic acumen of Patricia Cornwell and the atmosphere of Lynda La Plante’s Prime Suspect series, Birdman — already an international sensation prior to publication — introduces a troubled homicide detective battling the demons of his past while facing the psychopath of the century.
Case Histories (Paperback)
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Published: Back Bay Books, 10/01/2005
Case one: A little girl goes missing in the night.
Case two: A beautiful young office worker falls victim to a maniac’s apparently random attack.
Case three: A new mother finds herself trapped in a hell of her own making – with a very needy baby and a very demanding husband – until a fit of rage creates a grisly, bloody escape.
Thirty years after the first incident, as private investigator Jackson Brodie begins investigating all three cases, startling connections and discoveries emerge . . .
The Chicago Way (Paperback)
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Published: Vintage, 07/01/2008
Private detective Michael Kelly is hired by his former partner to solve an eight-year old rape and battery case long gone cold. But when the partner turns up dead, Kelly enlists a team of his savviest colleagues to connect the dots between the recent murder and the cold case it revived: a television reporter whose relationship with Kelly is not strictly professional; his best friend from childhood, a forensic DNA expert; and an old ally from the DA’s office. To close the case, Kelly will have to face the mob, a serial killer, his own double-crossing friends, and the mean streets of the city he loves.
The Road (Movie Tie-in Edition 2009) (Paperback)
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Published: Vintage, 11/01/2009
The Road is the profoundly moving story of a journey. It boldly imagines a future in which no hope remains, but in which the father and his son, “each the other’s world entire,” are sustained by love. Awesome in the totality of its vision, it is an unflinching meditation on the worst and the best that we are capable of: ultimate destructiveness, desperate tenacity, and the tenderness that keeps two people alive in the face of total devastation.
The Treatment (Mass Market Paperback)
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Published: Dell, 11/01/2002
The suspense is relentless in The Treatment, an emotional powerhouse of a thriller that brings back Jack Caffery, the detective from Mo Hayder’s acclaimed novel Birdman. A masterful blend of psychological insight and forensic detail, Hayder’s latest thriller is as chilling as it is heartbreaking, a gritty, gripping tour de force of suspense.
The Meaning of Night: A Confession (Paperback)
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Published: W. W. Norton & Company, 10/01/2007
“After killing the red-haired man, I took myself off to Quinn’s for an oyster supper.” So begins the “enthralling” (_Booklist_, starredreview) and “ingenious” (_Boston Globe_) story of Edward Glyver, booklover, scholar, and murderer. A chance discovery convinces Glyverthat greatness awaits him. His path to win back what is rightfully his leads him to Evenwood, one of England’s most enchanting country houses, and a woman who will become his obsession.
Skin (Hardcover)
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Published: Grove Press, 01/01/2010
The author of the internationally bestselling novels “The Devil of Nanking” and “Ritual” picks up the trail of the latter novel’s two unforgettable protagonists as they race to staunch a rising tide of blood in a sweltering port town.
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle (Paperback)
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Published: Ecco, 09/01/2009
Filled with breathtaking scenes — the elemental north woods, the sweep of seasons, an iconic American barn, a fateful vision rendered in the falling rain — The Story of Edgar Sawtelle is a meditation on the limits of language and what lies beyond, a brilliantly inventive retelling of an ancient story, and an epic tale of devotion, betrayal, and courage in the American heartland.
Beatrice and Virgil (Hardcover)
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Published: Spiegel & Grau, 04/01/2010
Fate takes many forms. . . .
When Henry receives a letter from an elderly taxidermist, it poses a puzzle that he cannot resist. As he is pulled further into the world of this strange and calculating man, Henry becomes increasingly involved with the lives of a donkey and a howler monkey—named Beatrice and Virgil—and the epic journey they undertake together.
With all the spirit and originality that made Life of Pi so beloved, this brilliant new novel takes the reader on a haunting odyssey. On the way Martel asks profound questions about life and art, truth and deception, responsibility and complicity.
A Vineyard in Tuscany: A Wine Lover's Dream (Paperback)
ISBN-13: 9780920256589
Availability: Out of Print
Published: W. W. Norton & Company, 11/01/2008
Light and fun — wouldn’t we all like to have the cash and the time to renovate a 16th century monastery and create world class wines. Even if we’ll never get there — Máté takes us on his own personal journey to wine lover’s heaven. Bonus recipes in the back are also excellent!
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (Hardcover)
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Published: Knopf, 05/01/2010
The stunning third and final novel in Stieg Larsson’s internationally best-selling trilogy
Lisbeth Salander—the heart of Larsson’s two previous novels—lies in critical condition, a bullet wound to her head, in the intensive care unit of a Swedish city hospital. She’s fighting for her life in more ways than one: if and when she recovers, she’ll be taken back to Stockholm to stand trial for three murders. With the help of her friend, journalist Mikael Blomkvist, she will not only have to prove her innocence, but also identify and denounce those in authority who have allowed the vulnerable, like herself, to suffer abuse and violence. And, on her own, she will plot revenge—against the man who tried to kill her, and the corrupt government institutions that very nearly destroyed her life.
The Angel's Game (Paperback)
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Published: Anchor, 05/01/2010
In this powerful, labyrinthian thriller, David Martín is a pulp fiction writer struggling to stay afloat. Holed up in a haunting abandoned mansion in the heart of Barcelona, he furiously taps out story after story, becoming increasingly desperate and frustrated. Thus, when he is approached by a mysterious publisher offering a book deal that seems almost too good to be real, David leaps at the chance. But as he begins the work, and after a visit to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books, he realizes that there is a connection between his book and the shadows that surround his dilapidated home and that the publisher may be hiding a few troubling secrets of his own. Once again, Ruiz Zafón takes us into a dark, gothic Barcelona and creates a breathtaking tale of intrigue, romance, and tragedy
The Lovely Bones (Paperback)
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Published: Back Bay Books, 09/01/2009
Once in a generation a novel comes along that taps a vein of universal human experience, resonating with readers of all ages. THE LOVELY BONES is such a book — a #1 bestseller celebrated at once for its artistry, for its luminous clarity of emotion, and for its astonishing power to lay claim to the hearts of millions of readers around the world.
Last Night at the Lobster (Paperback)
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Published: Penguin (Non-Classics), 10/01/2008
The Red Lobster perched in the far corner of a run-down New England mall hasn’t been making its numbers and headquarters has pulled the plug. But manager Manny DeLeon still needs to navigate a tricky last shift with a near-mutinous staff. All the while, he’s wondering how to handle the waitress he’s still in love with, what to do about his pregnant girlfriend, and where to find the present that will make everything better.
Stewart O’Nan has been called “the bard of the working class,” and Last Night at the Lobster is one of his most acclaimed works to date.
Leviathan: The History of Whaling in America (Paperback)
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Published: W. W. Norton & Company, 07/01/2008
This “engrossing account . . . at once grand and quirky, entertaining and informative” (_Publishers Weekly_) delivers the fascinating 300-year history of American whaling, integrating literary, social, and economic history into an epic account of this once-vital industry.
Firmin: Adventures of a Metropolitan Lowlife (Paperback)
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Published: Coffee House Press, 04/01/2006
Born in a bookstore in a blighted 1960’s Boston neighborhood, Firmin miraculously learns how to read by digesting his nest of books. Alienated from his family and unable to communicate with the humans he loves, Firmin quickly realizes that a literate rat is a lonely rat.
Following a harrowing misunderstanding with his hero, the bookseller, Firmin begins to risk the dangers of Scollay Square, finding solace in the Lovelies of the burlesque cinema. Finally adopted by a down-on-his-luck science fiction writer, the tide begins to turn, but soon they both face homelessness when the wrecking ball of urban renewal arrives.
In a series of misadventures, Firmin is ultimately led deep into his own imaginative soul—a place where Ginger Rogers can hold him tight and tattered books, storied neighborhoods, and down-and-out rats can find people who adore them.
Sacred Games (Paperback)
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Published: Harper Perennial, 12/01/2007
In the genre of Sacred Boy and Shantaram, Chandra take us through the epic odyssey of a young boy coming up in the Mafia underbelly of Bombay where everything comes at a cost. Told with wonderful and deep descriptions and from different characters’ lives — this is a modern masterpiece — just set some time aside to pick up the pace and get to know who’s who.
The Help (Hardcover)
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Published: Amy Einhorn Books/Putnam, 02/01/2009
In pitch-perfect voices, Kathryn Stockett creates three extraordinary women whose determination to start a movement of their own forever changes a town, and the way women—mothers, daughters, caregivers, friends—view one another. A deeply moving novel filled with poignancy, humor, and hope, The Help is a timeless and universal story about the lines we abide by, and the ones we don’t.
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Published: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 09/01/2008
This a quirky New England read about a bumbling idiot who accidentally kills two people when he burns down the Emily Dickinson House. After serving 10 years in prison and rebuilding his life after incarceration — other famous writer’s homes begin to burn. The police are after Sam and in the spirit of Confederacy of Dunces — he just can’t seem to do the right thing. Very different — very enjoyable.
Five Skies (Paperback)
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Published: Penguin (Non-Classics), 05/01/2008
Tightly written, sparse story of three troubled men who meet in the Rocky Mountains and embark on an odd job in Southern Idaho. Profound yet utterly simple writing give this story its voice and power. Great book for those who loved Peace Like River and To the Wedding.
On Chesil Beach (Paperback)
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Published: Anchor, 06/01/2008
This is almost the too short to be called a novel — it’s more of a great “novella.” A young couple just married in the early 1960s — honeymooning on Chesil Beach in a small hotel, both are virgins on the brink of their first night together. One filled with nervous excitement — the other pure dread. McEwan masters the moment in this sad but moving vignette.
The Little Book (Hardcover)
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Published: Dutton Adult, 08/01/2008
What a book, very unique! Historical fiction meets prep school memoir, meets time travel, meets great literature characters. I loved this book so much I wrote a long personal fan letter to the author.
The Painter of Battles (Paperback)
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Published: Random House Trade Paperbacks, 03/01/2009
As many of you know, Perez-Reverte is my current favorite novelist. I have read all of his translated works and this latest is wonderful. A retiring war photojournalist haunted by bad memories has enclosed himself in a tower to paint his artistic visual interpretation of battle. But, a man shows up he has only seen once before — when he took his picture for a Pulitzer-winning battle photograph many years before in Croatia. Asking the soldier of his purpose, the man replies “because I’m going to kill you…” Thus begins an amazing novel.
Night Train to Lisbon (Paperback)
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Published: Grove Press, 10/01/2008
For those who loved my pick, Shadow of the Wind, this translated novel is sure to please — a mysterious novel about a boring classics teacher who has a chance encounter with an interesting and beautiful woman on a rainy bridge — failing to get so much as her name, he is mesmerized by her presence. In a moment of madness he leaves a few nights later for Portugal with nothing so much as a letter to his school and a small bag. He takes off to examine his life and chase down the history of the enigmatic woman. A treat!
A Thousand Splendid Suns (Paperback)
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Published: Riverhead Trade, 11/01/2008
No sophomore slump for Hosseini — after the stunning success of Kite Runner I was worried his second book might fail to please. No worries — this is also a moving, well written, sad, and wonderful novel examining life in Afghastan from the female point of view. Not to be missed!
Thirteen Reasons Why (Paperback)
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Published: Razorbill, 10/01/2009
I started this book at 6pm and did not stop till I turned the last page in the wee hours of the morning. A high school girl commits suicide and leaves 7 audiotapes with 13 sides explaining the reasons why she killed herself. As the tapes are passed to each of those involved the suspense and impact of personal actions is immense and potent. This book give me shivers just thinking about it. AMAZING!
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Published: Dial Press Trade Paperback, 05/01/2009
This is a charming, light summer read written in letters about a little known island located between England and France called Guernsey. Takes place just after the German Occupation of WWII ends and Europe is trying to put itself back together. Interesting characters, good history, and a love story to round it all out — nice!


