Sunday, 14 June 2015

Books to Look forward to from Simon and Schuster

Page-turning, dark and with an anti-hero to rival Highsmith's Tom Ripley, The Truth and Other Lies will have you gripped, second-guessing the line between truth and fiction. From the outside, Henry Hayden has a perfect life: he's a famous novelist with more money than he can spend, a grand house in the country, a loyal, clever wife. But Henry has a dark side. If only the readers and critics who worship his every word knew that his success depends on a carefully maintained lie. One he will stop at nothing to protect. His luck must surely run out, and he simply can't allow that to happen. In thrall to paranoia and self-interest, Henry makes a fatal error that could cause the whole dream to unravel and, despite his Machiavellian efforts, events swiftly spin out of control as lie is heaped upon lie, menace upon menace. And it turns out that those around him have their secrets too ... The Truth and Other Lies is by Sascha Arango and is due to be published in June 2015.

Tennison by Lynda La Plante is due to be published in September 2015. In 1973 Jane Tennison, aged 22, leaves the Metropolitan Police Training Academy to be placed on probationary exercise in Hackney where criminality thrives. We witness her struggle to cope in a male-dominated, chauvinistic environment, learning fast to deal with shocking situations with no help or sympathy from her superiors. Then comes her involvement in her first murder case.


The Hand That Feeds You is by A J Rich and is due to be published in July 2015. Morgan's life seems settled - she is completing her thesis on victim psychology and newly engaged to Bennett, a man more possessive than those she has dated in the past, but also more chivalrous and passionate. But she returns from class one day to find Bennett savagely killed, and her dogs - a Great Pyrenees, and two pit bulls she was fostering - circling the body, covered in blood. Everything she holds dear in life is taken away from her in an instant. Devastated and traumatised, Morgan tries to locate Bennett's parents to tell them about their son's death. Only then does she begin to discover layer after layer of deceit. Bennett is not the man she thought he was. And she is not the only woman now in immense danger..

The Deadliest Sin is by The Medieval-Murderers and is due to be published in June 2015. In the spring of 1348, tales begin arriving in England of poisonous clouds fast approaching, which have overwhelmed whole cities and even countries, with scarcely a human being left. While some pray more earnestly and live yet more devoutly, others vow to enjoy themselves and blot out their remaining days on earth by drinking and gambling. And then there are those who hope that God's wrath might be averted by going on a pilgrimage. But if God was permitting his people to be punished by this plague, then it surely could only be because they had committed terrible sins? So when a group of pilgrims are forced to seek shelter at an inn, their host suggests that the guests should tell their tales. He dares them to tell their stories of sin, so that it might emerge which one is the best. That is, the worst ...

A young man enters the culverted remains of an ancient Glasgow stream, looking for thrills. Deep below the city, it is decaying and claustrophobic and gets more so with every step. As the ceiling lowers to no more than a couple of feet above the ground, the man finds his path blocked by another person. Someone with his throat cut. As DS Rachel Narey leads the official investigation, photographer Tony Winter follows a lead of his own, through the shadowy world of urbexers, people who pursue a dangerous and illegal hobby, a world that Winter knows more about than he lets on. And it soon becomes clear that the murderer has killed before, and has no qualms about doing so again.  In Place of Death is by Craig Robertson and is due to be published in September 2015.

The Rhythm of the August Rain is by Gillian Royes and is due to be published in July 2015.
  Shad Myers, the loveable bartender and town sleuth of Largo Bay, hunts down clues to a woman’s mysterious disappearance in this fourth riveting novel in the Shad detective series.  Shannon, a photojournalist on assignment for a Canadian magazine, arrives in the impoverished but beautiful fishing village of Largo Bay, Jamaica. But she’s seeking more than a tropical paradise: She wants to know why a Canadian woman named Katlyn went missing there more than three decades ago.  So she calls on Shad—“bartender by trade, investigator by vocation, and unofficial sheriff of Largo Bay for help. Together, they delve into Rastafarian life and history while preparations are being made for Shad’s wedding and the ground-breaking of his new hotel. But the deeper they get into the story, the deeper they get into trouble. And it’s clear that whoever wanted Katlyn buried all those years ago will do anything to keep the truth buried as well… -

Blood Stream is by Luca Veste and is due to be published in October 2015. Social media stars Chloe Morrison and Joe Hooper seem to have it all - until their bodies are found following an anonymous phone call to their high-profile agent. Tied and bound to chairs facing each other, their violent deaths cause a media scrum to descend on Liverpool, with DI David Murphy and DS Laura Rossi assigned to the case. Murphy is dismissive, but the media pressure intensifies when another couple is found in the same manner as the first. Only this time the killer has left a message. A link to a private video on the internet, and the words 'Nothing stays secret'. It quickly becomes clear that more people will die; that the killer believes secrets and lies within relationships should have deadly consequences...


Blood on the Sand is by Michael Jecks and is due to be published in June 2015. Calais, 1346. Berenger Fripper and his men are stationed in the ancient port city, a city under English control and surrounded by enemies. They are here to defend their newly won territory from the French and their allies the Genoese. Enemies are all about them, but there is also trouble within. Someone in the vintaine is leaking vital information to the French, jeopardizing not only the safety of the men but also the future of the war, and Berenger must find out who before it's too late. And when the vintaine is attacked at sea and captured by the Genoese it looks as though their luck has run out. Can Berenger defeat the enemies that surround him and keep the English victorious?

Hidden deep within one of the world's most powerful organizations is a secret committee with a devastating agenda. Its members are afforded incredible protections-considered elites, untouchables. But when four seconds of video is captured halfway around the world and anonymously transmitted to D.C., covert wheels are set in motion and counterterrorism operative Scot Harvath is tapped to undertake the deadliest assignment of his career. What begins as a favour will evolve into a globe-spanning drama of highly personal stakes played out against a backdrop of stunning international intrigue, duplicitous political gamesmanship and the darkest, most clandestine fears of the espionage world.  Code of Conduct is by Brad Thor and is due to be published in July 2015.

The Melody Lingers On is by Mary Higgins Clark and is due to be published in June 2015. Lane Harmon, assistant to a renowned interior designer, is used to meeting the rich and famous in their opulent homes. But when she is called to the Bennett house, she knows this job will be different. Parker Bennett has been missing for two years - since just before the discovery that billions of dollars had vanished from a fund he managed. The scandal has not died and a cloud of suspicion remains around his name. Did he commit suicide or was his disappearance staged?  His wife is convinced Parker is innocent - and alive. But there are people after him who are determined to learn the truth at any cost. And the more Lane gets drawn into the Bennett's world of glamour and intrigue, the most she puts her life and those of her family in jeopardy…

In the fall of 1888, Jack the Ripper slaughtered five prostitutes in London's seamy Whitechapel District. He did not just kill-he ripped with a butcher's glee-and then, after the particularly gruesome slaying of Mary Jane Kelly, he disappeared. For 127 years, Jack has haunted the dark corners of our imagination, the paradigm of the psychotic killer. We remember him not only for his crimes, but because, despite one of the biggest dragnets in London history, he was never caught. I, Ripper is a vivid reimagining of Jack's personal story entwined with that of an Irish journalist who covered the case, knew the principals, charted the investigation, and at last, stymied, went off in a bold new direction. These two men stalk each other through a city twisted in fear of the madman's blade, a cat-and-mouse game that brings to life the sounds and smells of the fleshpot tenderloin of Whitechapel and all the lurid acts that fuelled the Ripper headlines. I Ripper is by Stephen Hunter and is due to be published in August 2015.

Scents and Sensibility is by Spencer Quinn and is due to be published in July 2015.  In the latest entry in the immensely popular Chet and Bernie mystery series, Private Investigator Bernie Little and his canine companion Chet return home to encounter some alarming developments. First off, Bernie’s wall safe—normally hidden behind the waterfall picture in the office—is gone, and with it Bernie’s grandfather’s watch, their most valuable possession. And next door, old Mr. Parsons is under investigation for being in possession of a saguaro cactus illegally transplanted from the desert. Bernie and Chet go deep into the desert to investigate. Is it possible that such a lovely old couple have a terrible secret in their past?  Chet and Bernie discover bad things going on in the wilderness, far worse that cactus smuggling, and all connected to a strange but innocent-seeming desert festival called Arrow Bright. They unearth leads that take them back to a long-ago kidnapping that may not have been a kidnapping and threaten a ruthless and charismatic criminal with a cult following, a criminal who sees at once what Chet and Bernie mean to each other and knows how to exploit it.

Here We Lie is by Sophie McKenzie and is due to be published in September 2015.  On holiday with family and her adoring fiancĂ©, Jed, Emily couldn't be happier. But overnight, the idyllic trip turns into a waking nightmare when one of the group is found dead in what appears to be a terrible accident. The devastated party returns to London to cope with their loss while trying to resume their normal lives. But new revelations shed a shocking light on the holiday tragedy and set Emily on a perilous journey to discover the truth about what happened. Soon a terrifying series of threats and lies bring her face to face with the dark truths at the heart of her family - and into life-threatening danger...


Retired inspector Jack Bertolino had strict rules when dealing with confidential informants. But Mia had the kind of beauty that could make a grown man contemplate leaving his wife, his job, and his kids. After a passionate night together, Mia is found murdered—and Jack is the lead suspect.  Facing threats from the LAPD, the 18th Street Angels, and a Colombian drug cartel, Jack delves deeper into the seedy world of drug dealers and murderers and discovers that the top players knew Mia personally. And now Jack is torn between fearing for his life and seeking revenge for his slain lover….either way, the body count will rise. The Devils Necktie is by John Lansing and is due to be published in June 2015.

The very worst crimes are those we commit against the ones we love Motherhood hasn't come at all easy for Molly Anderson. But she's finally enjoying life as mother to five-year-old Ella and as Arts reporter for the small but respectable Ridgedale Reader. That is, until a body is found in the woods adjacent to Ridgedale University's ivy-covered campus. This is a discovery that threatens to unearth secrets long buried by the town's most powerful residents, and brings Molly to two women who are far more deeply connected than they have ever realised. Where They Found Her is by Kimberly McCreight and is due to be published in September 2015.  It  is a domestic thriller which offers a searing portrait of motherhood, marriage, class distinctions and the damage wrought by betrayal.

Falling in love can feel like a dream…or a living nightmare. Darkness has a way of creeping up when Ian is with Priss. Even when they were kids, playing in the woods of their small town, he could feel it. Still, Priss was his best friend, his salvation from all of the bullies and from his own family's deadly secrets. Now that they've both escaped to New York City, Ian no longer inhabits the tortured shell of his childhood. He is a talented and successful graphic novelist. But Priss is still trouble. And trouble loves company. The booze, the drugs, the sex - Ian is growing tired of late nights together trying to keep the past at bay. Especially now that he's met sweet, beautiful Megan, who makes him want to change for the better. But Priss doesn't like change. Change makes her angry. And when Priss is angry, terrible things begin to happen… Crazy Love You is by Lisa Unger and is due to be published in July 2015.

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