Fresh Ink: April 1, 2014


Dear KillerDear Killer by Katherine Ewell (Katherine Tegen Books) 

Rule One: Nothing is right, nothing is wrong.



Katherine Ewell’s Dear Killer is a sinister psychological story that explores the thin line between good and evil, and the messiness of that inevitable moment when life contradicts everything you believe.


No Book But the WorldNo Book But the World by Leah Hager (Riverhead) 




Dorothy Must DieDorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige (HarperCollins)

Somewhere over the rainbow…something has gone terribly wrong.




The RevolutionsThe Revolutions by Felix Gilman (Tor Books) 



Arthur won’t give up his great love so easily, and hunts for a way to save her, as Josephine fights for survival…somewhere in the vicinity of Mars.


Worst. Person. Ever.Worst. Person. Ever. by Douglas Coupland (Blue Rider Press) 

Worst. Person. Ever. is a deeply unworthy book about a dreadful human being with absolutely no redeeming social value. Raymond Gunt, in the words of the author, “is a living, walking, talking, hot steaming pile of pure id.” He’s a B-unit cameraman who enters an amusing downward failure spiral that takes him from London to Los Angeles and then on to an obscure island in the Pacific, where a major American TV network is shooting a Survivor-style reality show. Along the way, Gunt suffers multiple comas and unjust imprisonment, is forced to reenact the “Angry Dance” from the movie Billy Elliot, and finds himself at the center of a nuclear war. We also meet Raymond’s upwardly failing sidekick, Neal, as well as Raymond’s ex-wife, Fiona, herself “an atomic bomb of pain.” Even though he really puts the “anti” in antihero, you may find Raymond Gunt an oddly likable character.


Secret Life of William ShakespeareThe Secret Life of William Shakespeare by Jude Morgan (St. Martin’s Press) 




The Ring and the CrownThe Ring and the Crown by Melissa de la Cruz (Disney-Hyperion) 





The RemedyThe Remedy by Thomas Goetz (Gotham)






The Empathy ExamsThe Empathy Exams by Leslie Jameson (Graywolf Press) 



The Bird EaterThe Bird Eater by Ania Ahlborn (47North) 

Twenty years ago, the mysterious death of his aunt left Aaron Holbrook orphaned and alone. He abandoned his rural Arkansas hometown vowing never to return, until his seven-year-old son died in an accident, plunging Aaron into a nightmare of addiction and grief. Desperate to reclaim a piece of himself, he returns to the hills of his childhood, to Holbrook House, where he hopes to find peace among the memories of his youth. But solace doesn’t come easy. Someone-or something-has other plans. Like Aaron, Holbrook House is but a shell of what it once was, a target for vandals and ghost hunters who have nicknamed it “the devil’s den.” Aaron doesn’t believe in the paranormal-at least, not until a strange boy begins following him wherever he goes. Plagued by violent dreams and disturbing visions, Aaron begins to wonder if he’s losing his mind. But a festering darkness lurks at the heart of Holbrook House… a darkness that grins from within the shadows, delighting in Aaron’s sorrow, biding its time.


Lexicon PaperbackLexicon by Max Barry (Penguin Books) 




Odds Against TomorrowOdds Against Tomorrow by Nathaniel Rich (Picador) 

New York City, the near future: Mitchell Zukor works on the cutting edge of corporate irresponsibility, and business is booming. A brilliant mathematician, he spends his days calculating worst-case scenarios for FutureWorld, a consulting firm that indemnifies corporations against potential disasters. As Mitchell immerses himself in the calculus of catastrophe, he exchanges letters with Elsa Bruner-a college crush with her own apocalyptic secret-and becomes obsessed by a culture’s fears. When Mitchell’s darkest predictions come true and an actual worst-case scenario engulfs Manhattan, he realizes that he is uniquely prepared to profit. But what will it cost him?


Reboot Amy TinteraReboot by Amy Tintera (HarperTeen) 

Wren Connolly died when she was twelve years old. She woke up 178 minutes later as a Reboot. The longer a Reboot is dead, the stronger and less human she becomes when she returns—making Wren 178 the perfect weapon.

Callum 22, on the other hand, is practically still human. He’s the worst trainee Wren has ever had, yet there is something about him that makes her feel alive. When Callum refuses to follow a direct order, Wren is commanded to eliminate him. She has never disobeyed before, but now she’ll do whatever it takes to save Callum’s life.


Stoker's ManuscriptStoker’s Manuscript by Royce Prouty (Berkley Trade) 

Joseph Barkeley has a gift. Without the aid of chemical testing, he can accurately determine the authenticity and age of any document, seeing details within the fibers the way a composer picks out the individual notes of a symphony. But rarely does Joseph get a job this delicate and well-paying. A mystery buyer has hired him to authenticate the original draft of Bram Stoker’s Dracula.

When he travels to Transylvania to personally deliver the manuscript to the legendary Bran Castle, Barkeley, a Romanian orphan himself, soon realizes that his employer is the son of the infamous Vlad Dracula. Imprisoned in the castle and forced to serve “the Master,” Barkeley must quickly decipher cryptic messages hidden within Stoker’s masterpiece to find the Master’s long-lost bride—or risk wearing out his welcome.

But as he delves into the history of Dracula and his own lineage, Barkeley discovers that his selection for this job was based on more than his talent with rare books. Now, he has a perilous decision to make—save his life with a coward’s flight, or wage a deadly battle with an ancient foe.


The Other Typist PaperbackThe Other Typist by Suzanne Rindell (Berkley Trade) 


As Rose quickly falls under the stylish, coquettish Odalie’s spell, she is lured into a sparkling underworld of speakeasies and jazz. And what starts as simple fascination turns into an obsession from which she may never recover.


The Cemetery of SwallowsThe Cemetery of Swallows by Mallock (Europa Editions) 

One day, Manuel Gemoni travels to the other end of the world to kill an old man in the Dominican Republic. When questioned by police, Manuel can only explain his bizarre actions by saying, “I killed him because he had killed me.” Unable to comprehend why an ordinary family man with no history of violent behavior would go to such lengths to kill a man he didn’t even know, Police Commissioner Amédée Mallock decides to investigate. In order to save Manuel from death, the misanthropic Mallock must immerse himself in the harsh tropical jungles of the Dominican Republic and the snow-covered streets of Paris.


The Shelter CycleThe Shelter Cycle by Peter Rock (Mariner Books) 

Francine and Colville were childhood friends raised in the Church Universal and Triumphant, a religion that predicted the world could end in the late 1980s. While their parents built underground shelters to withstand the impending Soviet missile strike, Francine and Colville played in the Montana wilderness, where invisible spirits watched over them. When the prophesied apocalypse did not occur, the sect’s members resurfaced and the children were forced to grow up in a world they believed might no longer exist.

Twenty years later, Francine and Colville are reunited while searching for an abducted girl. Haunted by memories and inculcated beliefs, they must confront the Church’s teachings. If all the things they were raised to believe were misguided, why then do they suddenly feel so true?


What the Family NeededWhat the Family Needed by Steve Amsterdam (Riverhead Trade) 


