Fresh Ink: Spotlight on Debut Books of All Kinds

A major debut novel of psychological suspense about a daring art heist, a cat-and-mouse waiting game, and a small-town girl's mesmerizing transformation

On the grubby outskirts of Paris, Grace restores bric-a-brac, mends teapots, re-sets gems. She calls herself Julie, says she’s from California, and slips back to a rented room at night. Regularly, furtively, she checks the hometown paper on the Internet. Home is Garland, Tennessee, and there, two young men have just been paroled. One, she married; the other, she’s in love with. Both were jailed for a crime that Grace herself planned in exacting detail. The heist went bad—but not before she was on a plane to Prague with a stolen canvas rolled in her bag. And so, in Paris, begins a cat-and-mouse waiting game as Grace’s web of deception and lies unravels—and she becomes another young woman entirely.

Unbecoming is an intricately plotted and psychologically nuanced heist novel that turns on suspense and slippery identity. With echoes of Alfred Hitchcock and Patricia Highsmith, Rebecca Scherm’s mesmerizing debut is sure to entrance fans of Gillian Flynn, Marisha Pessl, and Donna Tartt.

 Watch a video where the author talks about the book and writing.

Praise for the book:
“From the first page, you know Rebecca Scherm is the real thing. Unbecoming is an assured exploration of the intricate, intense, risky processes that go into creating identity—and into dismantling it.” ~Tana French

“Rebecca Scherm’s extraordinarily confident voice and style, this novel’s depth of detail—great characters and a terrifically engaging plot—are a sheer delight to read. There is something very fresh and captivating about this book, and best of all I had no idea what was going to happen from one page to the next.” ~Kate Atkinson

“Some characters who go bad find that it’s against their nature, and some who go bad discover that dishonesty is the central truth about themselves. Rebecca Scherm’s wonderful novel Unbecoming has a mesmerizing narrator, Grace, who discovers that her gift (and it is a real gift) is for deceit. A thriller, a psychological study, and a love story, this novel is an unusually intelligent and suspenseful book. The dark arts have rarely been so brightly lit.” ~Charles Baxter

“Unbecoming is the story of a heist, and especially what happens afterwards. No one thinks beyond the maps and the timetables and the moment of sale, its narrator tells us, but Rebecca Scherm has done just that, showing us the tense, suspenseful aftermath of an unraveled plan. Unbecoming is a novel of voice, invention, and momentum, as tautly plotted as any Hitchcock movie and focused on the central question any lover and any jewel thief must eventually ask: ' How do you tell what’s fake from what’s real?”  ~Karen Joy Fowler

“‘Self-assured’ doesn’t begin to describe the skill with which Rebecca Scherm develops her central character—Grace—and the tangled web she weaves, which is her life itself. It’s a completely compelling read from start to finish, beautifully researched and brilliantly constructed. I loved it.” ~Elizabeth George

“Scherm’s debut has a plot that twists and turns, but it is the enigma of who Grace really is that will keep readers hooked until the very end. A bleak tone, deeply flawed protagonist, and dysfunctional relationships will draw well-deserved comparisons to Gillian Flynn.” ~Library Journal

“Scherm mixes a character study with caper novel full of double-crosses, lies, and betrayals.” ~Publishers Weekly

Fresh Ink: Spotlight on Debut Books of All Kinds

Winner of the 2014 First Book Award from Edinburgh International Book Festival.

For fans of Alice Munro and Lorrie Moore.

A young girl, renamed Amerika in honor of the United State's role in the liberation of Kuwait, finds her name has become a barometer of her country's growing hostility toward the West. A middle-aged man dying from cancer looks back on his extramarital affairs and the abiding forgiveness of his wife.

The headlines tell of war, unrest, and religious clashes. But if you look beyond, you will see life in the Middle East as it is really lived-adolescent love, the fragility of marriage, pain of the most quotidian kind. Mai Al-Nakib's luminous stories unveil the lives of ordinary people-and the power of objects to hold extraordinary memories.

 

Read an interview with the author HERE.

Mai Al-Nakib wins 2014 First Book Award with The Hidden Light of Objects

Inside the Writer’s Mind

Literature has ability to humanize 

‘Middle-Eastern writer’ is a tricky term, book festival panelists in Edinburgh say

An Author’s Search for the Kuwait of Old

Fresh Ink: Spotlight on Debut Books of All Kinds

Deborah Harkness meets Preston & Child in this edge-of-your-seat debut thriller--a superb blend of mystery, fantasy, horror, and the supernatural

When Lauren's father dies, she makes a shocking discovery. The man she knew as John Reardon was once a completely different person, with a different name. Now she's determined to find out who he really was, even though her only clues are an old photograph and the name of a town: Gideon.

But someone--or something--doesn't want her to discover the truth. A strange man is stalking her, appearing everywhere she turns, and those who try to help her end up dead. Neither a shadowy enemy nor her own fear will prevent her from solving the mystery of her father--and unlocking the secrets of her own life.

Making her way to Gideon, Lauren finds herself more confused than ever. Nothing in this small midwestern town is what it seems, including time itself. Residents start going missing, and Lauren is threatened by almost everyone she encounters. Two hundred years ago, a witch was burned at the stake, but in Gideon the past feels all too chillingly present. . . .

Read an excerpt HERE. 

Read an interview with the author HERE. 

A chat with Alex Gordon


Praise for the book:
“A deliciously creepy paranormal thriller, Gideon sucks you in one step at a time until you are well and truly caught in the story. Highly recommended.” ~Anne Bishop,  author of the Black Jewels trilogy

“A seductive work of paranormal horror that will draw readers into its cold and gloomy world. …This novel will thoroughly satisfy readers looking for suspense, horror and a grisly good time.” ~Kirkus Reviews
“Crisp and shiveringly disturbing prose, a solid plot, and well-developed characters all make for a deeply satisfying read.” ~Publishers Weekly

“This debut supernatural tale does a solid job of portraying the menace of small-town evil. ... This will appeal to fans of books such as Katherine Howe’s The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane or Deborah Harkness’s A Discovery of Witches.” ~Library Journal

"Generations ago, the people of Gideon burned a witch at the stake, and that decision has haunted the town ever since….[T]he town itself is the real main character—a small, suspicious community of souls standing guard over the barrier between this world and the next….The twists and turns are entertaining enough, and there are a couple of strong surprises lurking near the end, but it’s the atmosphere that’s the real star here…In the end, the book is as much about life in a small, closed-off community that believes ‘blood tells’ and character can be inferred from a last name as it is about elemental magic and the struggle between good and evil. This novel will thoroughly satisfy readers looking for suspense, horror and a grisly good time.” ~Kirkus Reviews

 “Anchored by well-crafted prose that features a creepy-as-hell villain, Gideon feels like Arthur Miller’s The Crucible brilliantly re-conceived in a Neil Gaimanesque universe. Gordon hooks readers from page one ... making for a book that is impossible to put down.” ~RT Book Reviews

Fresh Ink: Spotlight on Debut Books of All Kinds (His US Debut)

From Brazil’s most acclaimed young novelist, the mesmerizing story of how a troubled young man’s restorative journey to the seaside becomes a violent struggle with his family’s past

"So why did they kill him? "

"I’m getting there. Patience, tchê. I wanted to give you the context. Because it’s a good story, isn’t it?"

A young man’s father, close to death, reveals to his son the true story of his grandfather’s death, or at least the truth as he knows it. The mean old gaucho was murdered by some fellow villagers in Garopaba, a sleepy town on the Atlantic now famous for its surfing and fishing. It was almost an execution, vigilante style. Or so the story goes.

It is almost as if his father has given the young man a deathbed challenge. He has no strong ties to home, he is ready for a change, and he loves the seaside and is a great ocean swimmer, so he strikes out for Garopaba, without even being quite sure why. He finds an apartment by the water and builds a simple new life, taking his father’s old dog as a companion. He swims in the sea every day, makes a few friends, enters into a relationship, begins to make inquiries.

But information doesn’t come easily. A rare neurological condition means that he doesn’t recognize the faces of people he’s met, leading frequently to awkwardness and occasionally to hostility. And the people who know about his grandfather seem fearful, even haunted. Life becomes complicated in Garopaba until it becomes downright dangerous.

Steeped in a very special atmosphere, both languid and tense, and soaked in the sultry allure of south Brazil, Daniel Galera’s masterfully spare and powerful prose unfolds a story of discovery that feels almost archetypal—a display of storytelling sorcery that builds with oceanic force and announces one of Brazil’s greatest young writers to the English-speaking world. 

Read an excerpt HERE.

About the author.

Read an interview with the author HERE (scroll down to see the interview part)

Praise for the book:

“Atmospheric, multi-layered and poetic, Galera certainly makes a splash with Blood-Drenched Beard, and the ripples will surely affect all they touch.” ~Shelf Awareness
  

“Altogether impressive novel by a young writer ….Galera writes lyrically of a land of jungle and beach, even when the mood turns Hitchcock-ian….An elegant, literate and literary mystery of appearances and disappearances.” ~Kirkus Reviews
“Full of more than just mystery. Galera uses his hero’s condition to ruminate on relationships and his search into the past to contemplate beliefs about individuality and connectedness….an intriguing novel from a celebrated Brazilian author.”~Booklist

“Galera’s keen sense of characters and unflinching depictions of the sometimes awkward desperation of coastal life ground the story and give it a gritty feel that is consistently satisfying.”~Publishers Weekly

“The talented Galera, evidently highly regarded in his native Brazil, invests the mystery/quest structure of this novel with abundant colorful and lively details.”  ~Library Journal

"I guarantee you will like this one if you love the classic British murder mysteries. I hope you will agree with me that the use of Agatha Christie’s famous detective is not inappropriate and is, in fact, an homage to her legacy." ~Eric B.

Since the publication of her first novel in 1920, more than two billion copies of Agatha Christie's books have been sold around the globe. Now, for the first time ever, the guardians of her legacy have approved a brand new novel featuring Dame Agatha's most beloved creation, Hercule Poirot.

'I'm a dead woman, or I shall be soon...'

Hercule Poirot's quiet supper in a London coffeehouse is interrupted when a young woman confides to him that she is about to be murdered. She is terrified - but begs Poirot not to find and punish her killer. Once she is dead, she insists, justice will have been done.

Later that night, Poirot learns that three guests at a fashionable London Hotel have been murdered, and a cufflink has been placed in each one's mouth. Could there be a connection with the frightened woman? While Poirot struggles to put together the bizarre pieces of the puzzle, the murderer prepares another hotel bedroom for a fourth victim...

Eric B. says:
"For lovers of murder mysteries, there is hardly a greater name than Agatha Christie and few greater characters than Hercule Poirot.  Sadly, once one has read all of the great mistress of mayhem’s works, the only recourse is to reread them, which is not so bad after all, but occasionally a 'new' tale appears and it is always greeted with skepticism by true devotees. Often modern re-imaginings of a beloved author’s creations are disappointing and sometimes even repulsive. This is NOT the case here.

Sophie Hannah, who is in her own right a master of the mystery/thriller genre had taken the feisty Belgian in hand and produced a masterpiece worthy of the original. In fact, the impression left with the reader is one of a not only a fully-voiced (and fleshed) portrayal of Poirot but of a story with a certain darkness that Dame Agatha herself never quite achieved. It will come as no surprise to her readers that the author has imbued the story with an underlying sense of dread and a satisfying ratcheting up of tension, one of her hallmarks. She’s one of the modern adepts where nailbiters are concerned.

This time, the dapper mustachioed sleuth is accompanied by a somewhat callow Scotland Yard detective named Catchpool with whom our dear Hercule lodges, at least on a temporary basis. Three bodies are discovered in a posh London hotel all poisoned and laid out as if for funerary services. At the same time, a distressed young woman bursts into the small café in which Poirot is having dinner and declares that she will be murdered soon, but does not wish the murderer to be prosecuted, since she deserves what is clearly, in her mind, coming to her. Of course our hero cannot abide this notion, and the chase is on. What ensues is a mind-bending mystery of a complexity that would make Dorothy Sayers proud. As our Belgian friend navigates the murky waters, followed by an often dismayed companion (shades of Hastings), pieces of the history and psychology of these baffling crimes emerges, but are only clear to one person: Hercule Poirot.

I guarantee you will like this one if you love the classic British murder mysteries. I hope you will agree with me that the use of Agatha Christie’s famous detective is not inappropriate and is, in fact, an homage to her legacy."

Randy Is Recommending:

An unprecedented international publishing event: the first and only diary written by a still-imprisoned Guantanamo detainee.

Since 2002, Mohamedou Slahi has been imprisoned at the detention camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. In all these years, the United States has never charged him with a crime. A federal judge ordered his release in March 2010, but the U.S. government fought that decision, and there is no sign that the United States plans to let him go. Three years into his captivity Slahi began a diary, recounting his life before he disappeared into U.S. custody, "his endless world tour" of imprisonment and interrogation, and his daily life as a Guantanamo prisoner. His diary is not merely a vivid record of a miscarriage of justice, but a deeply personal memoir---terrifying, darkly humorous, and surprisingly gracious. Published now for the first time, Guantanamo Diary is a document of immense historical importance and a riveting and profoundly revealing read.

A serial killer stalks the streets of 1950s Boston--and two friends take it upon themselves to bring him down.

Post-war Boston is down on its luck and looking for change. A year after the Great Brink's Robbery--the largest robbery in the history of the United States--Boston is known more for its seedy underbelly than for its rich, historical past. The winter of 1951 is the worst in recent memory, and the Bruins are suffering another losing season.

Like Boston itself, lifelong residents Cal O'Brien and Dante Cooper are struggling to find their identities after World War II. Cal has built a mildly promising life for himself as an employee of a company providing private security, whether to an honorable businessman who needs a night watchman or to an Irish mafioso who needs to have someone's legs broken. Dante is everything Cal is not. A heroin addict trying and failing to stay clean, Dante feels the call to do good after he discovers that his sister-in-law was the latest victim of a serial killer targeting disadvantaged women.

Woefully unqualified, but determined to help, Cal and Dante take it upon themselves to track the killer--but their daunting quest takes on dangerous consequences when the trail leads them to the highest ranks of city government. There are a few well-placed men who don't want Cal and Dante to solve this case.

An absorbing mixture of history and suspense, told with a meticulous eye for detail and character, Serpents in the Cold is a moving exploration about two men battling for second chances.

A taut, thrilling adventure story about buried treasure, a manhunt, and a woman determined to make a new life for herself in the old west.

It's the 19th century on the Gulf Coast, a time of opportunity and lawlessness. After escaping the Texas brothel where she'd been a virtual prisoner, Lucinda Carter heads for Middle Bayou to meet her lover, who has a plan to make them both rich, chasing rumors of a pirate's buried treasure.

Meanwhile Nate Cannon, a young Texas policeman with a pure heart and a strong sense of justice, is on the hunt for a ruthless killer named McGill who has claimed the lives of men, women, and even children across the frontier. Who--if anyone--will survive when their paths finally cross?

As Lucinda and Nate's stories converge, guns are drawn, debts are paid, and Kathleen Kent delivers an unforgettable portrait of a woman who will stop at nothing to make a new life for herself.

 

 

A MEMOIR BY THE YOUNGEST RECIPIENT OF THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE
"I come from a country that was created at midnight. When I almost died it was just after midday."

When the Taliban took control of the Swat Valley in Pakistan, one girl spoke out. Malala Yousafzai refused to be silenced and fought for her right to an education.

On Tuesday, October 9, 2012, when she was fifteen, she almost paid the ultimate price. She was shot in the head at point-blank range while riding the bus home from school, and few expected her to survive.

Instead, Malala's miraculous recovery has taken her on an extraordinary journey from a remote valley in northern Pakistan to the halls of the United Nations in New York. At sixteen, she became a global symbol of peaceful protest and the youngest nominee ever for the Nobel Peace Prize.

I Am Malala is the remarkable tale of a family uprooted by global terrorism, of the fight for girls' education, of a father who, himself a school owner, championed and encouraged his daughter to write and attend school, and of brave parents who have a fierce love for their daughter in a society that prizes sons.

I Am Malala will make you believe in the power of one person's voice to inspire change in the world.

 

 

A riveting novel about the aftermath of a brutal murder of three teenage girls, written in incantatory prose "that's as fine as any being written by an American author today." (Ben Fountain)

One late autumn evening in a Texas town, two strangers walk into an ice cream shop shortly before closing time. They bind up the three teenage girls who are working the counter, set fire to the shop, and disappear. See How Small tells the stories of the survivors--family, witnesses, and suspects--who must endure in the wake of atrocity. Justice remains elusive in their world, human connection tenuous.

Hovering above the aftermath of their deaths are the three girls. They watch over the town and make occasional visitations, trying to connect with and prod to life those they left behind. "See how small a thing it is that keeps us apart," they say. A master of compression and lyrical precision, Scott Blackwood has surpassed himself with this haunting, beautiful, and enormously powerful new novel. 

Remember, Tomorrow Is Our Very First Nationa Readathon Day!!!