Release Week: 23 August 2022
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Release Week: 23 August 2022
Posted on 2022-08-23 at 12:00 by Samuel Montgomery-Blinn
PICKS:
Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution By: R. F. Kuang, read by Chris Lew Kum Hoi and Billie Fulford-Brown for Harper -- "A thematic response to The Secret History and a tonal retort to Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell that grapples with student revolutions, colonial resistance, and the use of language and translation as the dominating tool of the British empire."
The Sleepless By: Victor Manibo, read by Joel de la Fuente for Recorded Books -- "A mysterious pandemic causes a quarter of the world’s population to permanently lose the ability to sleep—without any apparent health implications. The outbreak creates a new class of people who are both feared and ostracized, and most of whom optimize their extra hours to earn more money. Jamie Vega, a New York journalist at C+P Media, is one of the Sleepless. When his irascible boss dies in an apparent suicidal overdose, Jamie doesn’t buy this too-convenient explanation—especially given its suspicious timing in the middle of a corporate takeover—and begins to investigate."
Afterlives: A Novel By: Abdulrazak Gurnah, read by Damian Lynch for Penguin -- "From the winner of the 2021 Nobel Prize in Literature, a sweeping, multigenerational saga of displacement, loss, and love, set against the brutal colonization of East Africa."
Into the Broken Lands By: Tanya Huff, read by Nicholas Techosky for Audible -- "Shattered by mage wars, the Broken Lands will test the bonds of family and friendship, strength, and sanity. To save their people, the Heirs of Marsan have no choice but to enter, trusting their lives and the lives of everyone they protect, to someone who shouldn't exist, who can't be controlled, and who will challenge everything they believe about themselves."
Haven By: Emma Donoghue, read by Aidan Kelly for Little, Brown and Company -- "In seventh-century Ireland, a scholar and priest called Artt has a dream telling him to leave the sinful world behind. Taking two monks—young Trian and old Cormac—he rows down the river Shannon in search of an isolated spot on which to found a monastery. Drifting out into the Atlantic, the three men find an impossibly steep, bare island inhabited by tens of thousands of birds, and claim it for God. In such a place, what will survival mean?"
Babysitter: A Novel By: Joyce Carol Oates, read by Cassandra Campbell, Kirby Heyborne, Max Meyers for Random House -- "In the waning days of the turbulent 1970s, in the wake of unsolved child-killings that have shocked Detroit, the lives of several residents are drawn together with tragic consequences."
Reluctant Immortals By: Gwendolyn Kiste, read by Carlotta Brentan for Simon and Schuster -- "For fans of Mexican Gothic, from three-time Bram Stoker Award-winning author Gwendolyn Kiste comes a novel inspired by the untold stories of forgotten women in classic literature—from Lucy Westnera, a victim of Stoker’s Dracula, and Bertha Mason, Mr. Rochester’s attic-bound wife in Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre—as they band together to combat the toxic men bent on destroying their lives, set against the backdrop of the Summer of Love, Haight-Ashbury, 1967."
A Dreadful Splendor: A Novel By: B.R. Myers, read by Olivia Vinall for Harper -- "London, 1852. Genevieve Timmons has made her living posing as a spiritualist to swindle wealthy believers, until one misstep lands her in a jail cell awaiting the noose. Then a stranger, Mr. Lockhart, arrives to make her a peculiar offer. The Lord he serves, Mr. Pemberton, has been grieving the mysterious death of his beautiful bride-to-be for six months. Although no foul play was ever uncovered, the young Lord is certain that she was murdered. If Genevieve can hold a séance to persuade him that his betrothed’s spirit is at peace, Mr. Lockhart promises to have the charges against her dismissed. But when Genevieve arrives at the grand Somerset Park estate, she is surprised to discover that the handsome and aloof Mr. Pemberton is anything but the heartbroken lover she expected. Then Mr. Pemberton approaches Genevieve with an offer of his own: Working together, they can perform a séance so convincing it will coax the killer out of the shadows."
BACKLIST WATCH:
A Night in the Lonesome October By: Roger Zelazny (1993), read by Matt Godfrey for Recorded Books -- "Loyally accompanying a mysterious knife-wielding gentleman named Jack on his midnight rounds through the murky streets of London, good dog Snuff is busy helping his master collect the grisly ingredients needed for an unearthly rite that will take place not long after the death of the moon. But Snuff and his master are not alone. All manner of participants, both human and not, are gathering with their ancient tools and their animal familiars in preparation for the dread night. It is brave, devoted Snuff who must calculate the patterns of the Game and keep track of the Players—the witch, the mad monk, the vengeful vicar, the Count who sleeps by day, the Good Doctor and the hulking Experiment Man he fashioned from human body parts, and a wild-card American named Larry Talbot—all the while keeping Things at bay and staying a leap ahead of the Great Detective, who knows quite a bit more than he lets on."
Four and Twenty Blackbirds by Mercedes Lackey (1997), read by Christa Lewis for Tantor -- "A magical murderer is loose in Alanda. The victims are always women, always lower-class, and the weapon is always a three-sided stiletto, most often found among Church regalia. But the killers are never churchmen, and they always commit suicide immediately after the bloody deed. Tal Rufen is just a simple constable. But he really cares about his job, and when one of these murder/suicides happens on his beat, he becomes obsessed. His superiors don't care—the victims will never be missed, and their murderers are already justly dead. But every instinct Tal Rufen has cries out that he has seen only one small piece of a bigger and much nastier puzzle."
The Bond: The Bond Trilogy, Book 1 By: Robin Kirk (2018), read by Alexa Elmy for Far Eek Books -- "Trust what you see, not what you’re told. In a society that made males obsolete, the Weave engineers a female’s abilities. Girls like Dinitra are engineered by Sowers and assigned their life purpose when they turn 16. But sometimes, the Sowers get things wrong. A resistance is growing. Rebels are fabricating humans of their own—including males—and plan to topple the Weave in a war that could destroy them all. When Dinitra is assigned a job with the Legion, she uncovers the ugliest secrets of the Weave. Her loyalty is tested when she’s captured by the rebels and develops a dangerous bond with a male warrior—a shameful crime that she may pay for with her life."
Huntsman: Fox Hollow Zodiac, Book 1 By: Morgan Brice (2020), read by John Solo for Tantor -- "A grieving wolf. A hunted fox. Fated mates, thrown together by chance, and the looming threat of a fabled Huntsman who might tear them apart forever."
SERIES WATCH:
The Dark One: Vicious Lost Boys, Book 2 By: Nikki St. Crowe, read by Stella Hunter, Shane East, Curtis Michael Holland, Diontae Black, and Vanessa Edwin for Blackwell House -- "It wasn't until Pan and Neverland that I finally felt alive. But things are not all full of magic and sunlight on the island. There's something darker and more sinister haunting the forest."
Dance with the Devil: Mercenary Librarians Series, Book 3 By: Kit Rocha, read by Lidia Dornet for Tantor -- "Power is never given, only taken. Tobias Richter, the fearsome VP of Security of the TechCorps is dead. The puppet master is gone and the organization is scrambling to maintain control by ruthlessly limiting Atlanta's access to resources, hoping to quell rebellion. Our band of mercenary librarians have decided that the time for revolution has come."
Out of the Fire: Out of the Earth, Book 3 By: Jake Bible, read by Eric Michael Summerer for Tantor -- "The rest of the world is not far behind as volcano after volcano erupts, spewing not just magma and hot ash, but monsters of impossible size out onto the battered and broken surface. These monsters are hellbent on getting to North America to do battle with the behemoth that has broken free of the Yellowstone super volcano. A battle that could tear the Earth apart."
Tarzan and the Forest of Stone: Edgar Rice Burroughs Universe By: Jeffrey J. Mariotte, read by John McLain and Jaimee Draper for Oasis -- "The groundbreaking series continues with Tarzan and the Forest of Stone, a brand-new standalone novella set during the classic canon directly after the events of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Tarzan and the Lion Man."
Soul Taken: A Mercy Thompson Novel, Book 13 By: Patricia Briggs, read by Lorelei King
MORE FICTION:
Please Join Us: A Novel By: Catherine McKenzie, read by Joy Osmanski for Simon and Schuster -- "At thirty-nine, Nicole Mueller’s life is on the rocks. Her once brilliant law career is falling apart. She and her husband, Dan, are soon to be forced out of the apartment they love. After a warning from her firm’s senior partners, she receives an invitation from an exclusive women’s networking group, Panthera Leo. Membership is anonymous, but every member is a successful professional. It sounds like the perfect solution to help Nicole revive her career. So, despite Dan’s concerns that the group might be a cult, Nicole signs up for their retreat in Colorado."
The Perfect Golden Circle By: Benjamin Myers, read by Tim Key for Tantor -- "Summer 1989, deep in the English countryside—during a time of mass unemployment, class war, and rebellion. Over the course of a burning hot summer, two very different men—Calvert, an ex-soldier traumatized by his experience in the Falklands War, and his affable friend Redbone—set out nightly in a decrepit camper van to undertake an extraordinary project. Under cover of darkness, they traverse the fields of rural England in secret, forming crop circles in elaborate and mysterious patterns, painstakingly avoiding damaging the wheat to yield designs so intricate that their overnight appearances inspire awe amongst a mystified public."
The Darkness of Others By: Cate Holahan, read by Chanté McCormick, Jennifer Jill Araya for Grand Central -- "Imani Banks lives in a posh Brooklyn Heights neighborhood that has just been rocked to its core. An acclaimed movie director has been murdered, and his blond trophy wife—Imani’s closest friend—is missing. Their neighbors, along with the media, jump to the conclusion that Melissa Walker has killed her husband in a fit of rage and is on the run."
MORE SCI-FI and FANTASY:
The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy By: Megan Bannen, read by Michael Gallagher and Rachanee Lumayno for Orbit -- "Hart is a marshal, tasked with patrolling the strange and magical wilds of Tanria. It’s an unforgiving job, and Hart’s got nothing but time to ponder his loneliness. Mercy never has a moment to herself. She’s been single-handedly keeping Birdsall & Son Undertakers afloat in defiance of sullen jerks like Hart, who seems to have a gift for showing up right when her patience is thinnest. After yet another exasperating run-in with Mercy, Hart finds himself penning a letter addressed simply to “A Friend”. Much to his surprise, an anonymous letter comes back in return, and a tentative friendship is born."
Glitterati By: Oliver K. Langmead, read by Toby Longworth for W.F. Howes -- "A Clockwork Orange and RuPaul's Drag Race meet Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind in this fabulous dystopian fable about fashion, family and feckless billionaires."
Unto the Godless What Little Remains By: Mário Coelho, read by Ayesha Antoine for Rebellion on Penguin -- "Liverloin is a fractured man, a collection of personas—artificial constructs of wants, fears and needs—created by underground science-artists to help him hide in a hyper-connected world. But he can't hide from Big Momma. She is the living internet, a benevolent AI who knows everything and everyone...and somehow is in love with Liverloin."
The Surf By: Kwaku Osei-Afrifa, read by Rachel Handshaw for Rebellion on Penguin -- "Elerie Astrada is hanging in almost-space, awaiting launch. Ultsurf is a popular, high-stakes relay race contested at the edge of a planet's atmosphere. It's fast, hard and dangerous: it isn't a bloodsport, but blood is often spilled. It is also highly illegal. And Ele is at the top of her game, just a few wins away from the major leagues. But making the fastest Split isn't Ele's biggest challenge. When her childhood friend India blackmails her with knowledge of her Ultsurfing career, Ele's thrown into the politics of money and power, and way over her head."
Silver Queendom By: Dan Koboldt, read by Michael Page for Tantor -- "Service at the Red Rooster Inn isn't what you'd call "good," or even "adequate." Darin would be the first to say so, and he owns the place. Evie isn't much of a barmaid; Kat's home brewed ale seems to grow less palatable with each new batch; and Seraphina's service at the bar leaves much to be desired. As for the bouncer, Big Tom, well, everyone learns right quick to stay on his good side. They may be bad at running an inn, but they're the best team of con artists in the Old Queendom. When a prospective client approaches Darin with a high-paying job, he knows he should refuse."
The Witches of Moonshyne Manor By: Bianca Marais, read by Amy Landon for Harlequin -- "Five octogenarian witches gather as an angry mob threatens to demolish Moonshyne Manor. All eyes turn to the witch in charge, Queenie, who confesses they’ve fallen far behind on their mortgage payments. Still, there’s hope, since the imminent return of Ruby—one of the sisterhood who’s been gone for thirty-three years—will surely be their salvation. But the mob is only the start of their troubles."
Lightlark: Lightlark, Book 1 By: Alex Aster, read by Suzy Jackson for Recorded Books -- "Welcome to the Centennial. Every 100 years, the island of Lightlark appears to host the Centennial, a deadly game that only the rulers of six realms are invited to play. The invitation is a summons—a call to embrace victory and ruin, baubles and blood. The Centennial offers the six rulers one final chance to break the curses that have plagued their realms for centuries. Each ruler has something to hide. Each realm’s curse is uniquely wicked. To destroy the curses, one ruler must die. Isla Crown is the young ruler of Wildling—a realm of temptresses cursed to kill anyone they fall in love with. They are feared and despised, and are counting on Isla to end their suffering by succeeding at the Centennial. To survive, Isla must lie, cheat, and betray...even as love complicates everything."