| Take it Back by Kia AbdullahStarring: Londoner Zara Kaleel, who left behind her high-powered legal career to work as a rape counselor; disabled teen Jodie, who is referred to Zara after accusing a group of Muslim boys of assaulting her.
Read it for: the well-developed characters; Zara's compelling efforts to navigate her fraught position -- as a Muslim herself, she faces censure from all sides of the case as she tries to advocate for her client. |
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| Fool Me Twice by Jeff LindsaySeries alert: Fool Me Twice is the 2nd entry in the series of thrillers starring likeable rogue Riley Wolfe, an ambitious master thief always up for a challenge.
The prize: This time, Riley is strong-armed into stealing a priceless Raphael painting from deep in the Vatican by "an arms dealer who scares the crap out of other arms dealers."
The problem: It's not just any Renaissance painting -- Riley's target is a fresco, meaning he has to find a way to steal an actual wall. |
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| You Will Never Know by S.A. PrentissStarring: Jessica Thorton, a bank teller who has built a good life for herself despite a difficult past; Jessica's second husband, Ted Donovan; her daughter, Emma; and Craig, Ted's son from his first marriage.
What goes wrong: The murder of one of Emma and Craig's classmates on a night when neither teen has an alibi reveals the fault lines in the Thorton-Donovan family and threatens to destroy everything Jessica has worked so hard to build.
Try this next: The First Mistake by Sandie Jones, which also features an intensifying pace and flawed characters trying to keep their families from collapsing under the weight of suspicion and shifting loyalties. |
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| Blackout by Marc ElsbergWhat it is: a fast-paced and compelling German novel that is part eco-thriller and part techno-thriller and which throws into stark relief the fragility of modern civilization.
What goes down: thanks to a group of hackers, the entire European electrical grid. As the blackouts spread and the stalled nuclear plants start leaking radiation, characters across the continent must fight for survival as society begins to collapse around them. |
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| Fever Dream by Samanta SchweblinWhat it is: the haunting, character-driven story of a young mother reflecting on her life and her fate as she dies slowly in a hospital bed.
Why you might like it: The unreliable narrator's tale is as compelling as it is disturbing, and features spare writing that serves to heighten its already menacing tone.
About the author: Fever Dream is the first novel by Man Booker Prize-nominated Argentine-Spanish author Samanta Schweblin, who has also published three collections of short stories. |
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| The Neighborhood by Mario Vargas LlosaWhat it's about: Set in Peru during the Fujimori dictatorship of the 1990s, this gritty and suspenseful novel follows the downfall of a wealthy engineer after a scandal involving blackmail and the murder of a tabloid journalist.
Read it for: the portrayal of corruption and high-stakes political maneuvering against a noir-inspired backdrop.
About the author: Peruvian Nobel Prize-winner Mario Vargas Llosa has worked in journalism and politics and is the author of fiction and nonfiction works across many genres. |
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| The Friend by Joakim ZanderWhat it is: the intricately plotted and thought-provoking story of two flawed people living a continent apart and how their lives are upended after learning the people they love might be involved in dangerous international espionage and even terrorism.
About the author: Before The Friend, Swedish author Joakim Zander published The Swimmer and The Brother, which similarly explored the effects of spy work on people's personal lives. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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