The Watchmaker of Filigree Street

Natasha Pulley

Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

1883. Thaniel Steepleton returns home to his tiny London apartment to find a gold pocket watch on his pillow. Six months later, the mysterious timepiece saves his life, drawing him away from a blast that destroys Scotland Yard. At last, he goes in search of its maker, Keita Mori, a kind, lonely immigrant from Japan. Although Mori seems harmless, a chain of unexplainable events soon suggests he must be hiding something. When Grace Carrow, an Oxford physicist, unwittingly interferes, Thaniel is torn between opposing loyalties. The Watchmaker of Filigree Street is a sweeping, atmospheric narrative that takes the reader on an unexpected journey through Victorian London, Japan as its civil war crumbles long-standing traditions, and beyond. Blending historical events with dazzling flights of fancy, it opens doors to a strange and magical past.

Armada

Ernest Cline

Crown Publishing Group

Zack Lightman has spent his life dreaming. Dreaming that the real world could be a little more like the countless science-fiction books, movies, and videogames he's spent his life consuming. Dreaming that one day, some fantastic, world-altering event will shatter the monotony of his humdrum existence and whisk him off on some grand space-faring adventure. But hey, there's nothing wrong with a little escapism, right? After all, Zack tells himself, he knows the difference between fantasy and reality. He knows that here in the real world, aimless teenage gamers with anger issues don t get chosen to save the universe. And then he sees the flying saucer. Even stranger, the alien ship he's staring at is straight out of the videogame he plays every night, a hugely popular online flight simulator called Armada in which gamers just happen to be protecting the earth from alien invaders. No, Zack hasn't lost his mind. As impossible as it seems, what he's seeing is all too real. And his skills as well as those of millions of gamers across the world are going to be needed to save the earth from what's about to befall it. It's Zack's chance, at last, to play the hero. But even through the terror and exhilaration, he can t help thinking back to all those science-fiction stories he grew up with, and wondering: Doesn't something about this scenario seem a little familiar?

After the Storm

Linda Castillo

Minotaur Books

When a tornado tears through Painters Mill and unearths human remains, Chief of Police Kate Burkholder finds herself tasked with the responsibility of identifying the bones--and notifying the family. Evidence quickly emerges that the death was no accident and Kate finds herself plunged into a thirty year old case that takes her deep into the Amish community to which she once belonged. Meanwhile, turmoil of an emotional and personal nature strikes at the very heart of Kate's budding relationship with state agent John Tomasetti. A reality that strains their fragile new love to the breaking point and threatens the refuge they've built for themselves--and their future. Under siege from an unknown assailant--and her own personal demons--Kate digs deep into the case only to discover proof of an unimaginable atrocity, a plethora of family secrets and the lengths to which people will go to protect their own.

Hostile Takeover

Shane Kuhn

Simon and Schuster

Professional assassin John Lago faces off against his deadliest adversary yet--his wife--in Hostile Takeover, the exciting sequel to Shane Kuhn's bestselling debut The Intern's Handbook, which the New York Post called "a sexy, darkly comic thriller." At the end of The Intern's Handbook, John tracks down his nemesis Alice but instead of putting a bullet in her head, he puts a ring on her finger and marries her. Together, they execute a hostile takeover of Human Resources, Inc., the placement agency that trains young assassins to infiltrate corporations disguised as interns and knock off high profile targets. As HR's former top operatives, they are successful until conflicting management styles cause an ugly breakup that locks John out of the bedroom and the boardroom. But when Alice takes on a new HR target, John is forced to return to the office battlefield in a role he swore he would never play again: the intern. What starts out as a deadly showdown turns into the two of them fighting side by side to save HR, Inc.--and their marriage.

Open Grave: A Mystery

Kjell Eriksson

Minotaur Books

Already a star in Europe and the Nordic countries, Kjell Eriksson has American critics raving. In this new book in the Ann Lindell series, Professor Bertram von Ohler has been awarded the Nobel Prize for medicine. This news causes problems in his otherwise quiet upper-class neighborhood. Not everybody is happy with the choice of winner. Mysterious incidents start to occur. Boyish pranks say the police, but what follows is certainly not innocent amusement. Police inspector Ann Lindell becomes involved in the case and immediately is transported back into her own past.

Let Me Explain You

Annie Liontas

Scribner Book Company

Stavros Stavros Mavrakis, Greek immigrant and proud owner of the Gala Diner, believes he has just ten days to live. As he prepares for his final hours, he sends a scathing email to his ex-wife and three grown daughters, outlining his wishes for how they each might better live their lives. With varying degrees of laughter and scorn, his family and friends dismiss his behavior as nothing more than a plea for attention, but when Stavros disappears, those closest to him are forced to confront the possibility of his death. A vibrant tour de force that races to a surprising conclusion, "Let Me Explain You" is told from multiple perspectives: Stavros Stavros, brimming with pride and cursing in broken English; his eldest daughter Stavroula, a talented chef in love with her boss's daughter; her sister, the wounded but resilient Litza; and many other voices who compose a veritable Greek chorus. By turns hilarious and deeply moving, this multigenerational novel delivers a heartfelt meditation on the power of storytelling and family, the relationship between fathers and daughters, and also the complex bond of sisterhood. Annie Liontas explores our origins and family myths, hunger and what feeds us, reinvention and forgiveness.

The Drummond Girls: A Story of Fierce Friendship Beyond Time and Chance

Mardi Link

Grand Central Publishing

The eight Drummond Girls first met in 1991 at Peegeo's Food & Spirits in northern Michigan where, at the time, they were all waitresses, bartenders, or regular customers. When one of them got engaged, they celebrated with a trip to Drummond Island--their first trip together to the remote 36-mile chunk of rock, dive bars, dirt roads, and beautiful forests--and it's where they became bonded forever. They've made this voyage every year since then as a way to retain a piece of their wild youth, despite the taming influence of marriage, motherhood, and management. This year, their focus is Beverly, oldest of the Drummond Girls at 65, whose memory is beginning to lapse. Undaunted, the other women intend to help Beverly remember all they've shared--every campfire, every late night talk, every secret confided.

Straight to Hell: True Tales of Deviance, Debauchery, and Billion-Dollar Deals

John Lefevre

Atlantic Monthly Press

Some chick asked me what I would do with 10 million bucks. I told her I'd wonder where the rest of my money went. @GSElevator 

Over the past three years, the notorious @GSElevator Twitter feed has offered a hilarious, shamelessly voyeuristic look into the real world of international finance. Hundreds of thousands followed the account, Goldman Sachs launched an internal investigation, and when the true identity of the man behind it all was revealed, it created a national media sensation but that's only part of the story. Where @GSElevator captured the essence of the banking elite with curated jokes and submissions overheard by readers, Straight to Hell adds John LeFevre's own story an unapologetic and darkly funny account of a career as a globe-conquering investment banker spanning New York, London, and Hong Kong. Straight to Hell pulls back the curtain on a world that is both hated and envied, taking readers from the trading floors and roadshows to private planes and after-hours overindulgence. Full of shocking lawlessness, boyish antics, and win-at-all-costs schemes, this is the definitive take on the deviant, dysfunctional, and absolutely excessive world of finance.

The Best Team Money Can Buy: The Los Angeles Dodgers Wild Struggle to Build a Baseball Powerhouse

Molly Knight

Simon and Schuster

News-making, inside revelations about the tumultuous years when the Los Angeles Dodgers were remade from top to bottom--from the ownership of the team to management to the players on the field--becoming the most talked-about and most colorful team in baseball. In 2012 the Los Angeles Dodgers were bought out of bankruptcy in the most expensive sale in sports history. Los Angeles icon Magic Johnson and his partners hoped to put together a team worthy of Hollywood: consistently entertaining. By most accounts they have succeeded, if not always in the way they might have imagined. Now Molly Knight tells the story of the Dodgers' 2013 and 2014 seasons with detailed, previously unreported revelations. She shares a behind-the-scenes account of the astonishing sale of the Dodgers, and why the team was not overpriced, as well as what the Dodgers actually knew in advance about rookie phenom and Cuban defector Yasiel Puig and how they and teammates handled him during his first two roller-coaster seasons. We learn how close manager Don Mattingly was to losing his job during the 2013 season--and how the team turned around the season in the most remarkable fifty-game stretch (42-8) of any team since World War II, before losing in the NLCS. Knight also provides a rare glimpse into the infighting and mistrust that derailed the team in 2014, and resulted in ridding the roster of difficult personalities and the hiring of a new front office. Knight also reveals new facts behind the blockbuster trade with the Red Sox. She paints an intimate portrait of star pitcher Clayton Kershaw, probably the best pitcher in the game today, including details about the record contract offer he turned down before accepting the richest contract any pitcher ever signed. Exciting, surprising, and filled with juicy details, Molly Knight's account is a must-read for baseball fans and anyone who wants the inside story of today's Los Angeles Dodgers.

Anchor and Flares: A Memoir of Motherhood, Hope, and Service

Kate Braestrup

Little Brown and Company

Kate Braestrup's life was transformed by the loss of her husband; now Kate faces the possibility that she may lose her son. As a young mother Kate Braestrup discovered the fierce protectiveness that accompanies parenthood. In the intervening years--through mourning her husband and the joy of remarriage and a blended family-Kate has absorbed the rewards and complications of that spirit. But when her eldest son joins the Marines, Kate is at a crossroads: Can she reconcile her desire to protect her children with her family's legacy of service? Can parents balance the joy of a child's independence with the fear of letting go? As Kate examines the twinned emotions of faith and fear-inspired by the families she meets as a chaplain and by her son's journey towards purpose and familyhood - she learns that the threats we can't predict will rip us apart and knit us together.