"The Memory Thief"

New from Blink: The Memory Thief by Lauren Mansy.

About the book, from the publisher:

In the city of Craewick, memories reign. The power-obsessed ruler of the city, Madame, has cultivated a society in which memories are currency, citizens are divided by ability, and Gifted individuals can take memories from others through touch as they please.

Seventeen-year-old Etta Lark is desperate to live outside of the corrupt culture, but grapples with the guilt of an accident that has left her mother bedridden in the city’s asylum. When Madame threatens to put her mother up for auction, a Craewick practice in which a “criminal’s” memories are sold to the highest bidder before being killed, Etta will do whatever it takes to save her. Even if it means rejoining the Shadows, the rebel group she swore off in the wake of the accident years earlier.

To prove her allegiance to the Shadows and rescue her mother, Etta must steal a memorized map of the Maze, a formidable prison created by the bloodthirsty ruler of a neighboring Realm. So she sets out on a journey in which she faces startling attacks, unexpected romance, and, above all, her own past in order to set things right in her world.

Visit Lauren Mansy's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Little Voices"

New from Thomas & Mercer: Little Voices by Vanessa Lillie.

About the book, from the publisher:

The voice in her head says he’s guilty. She knows he’s innocent.

Devon Burges is in the throes of a high-risk birth when she learns of her dear friend’s murder. The police quickly name another friend as the chief suspect, but Devon doesn’t buy it—and despite her difficult recovery, she decides to investigate.

Haunted by postpartum problems that manifest as a cruel voice in her head, Devon is barely getting by. Yet her instincts are still sharp, and she’s bent on proving her friend’s innocence.

But as Devon digs into the evidence, the voice in her head grows more insistent, the danger more intense. Each layer is darker, more disturbing, and she’s not sure she—or her baby—can survive what lies at the truth.

Visit Vanessa Lillie's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Scars Like Wings"

New from Delacorte Press: Scars Like Wings by Erin Stewart.

About the book, from the publisher:

Before, I was a million things. Now I’m only one. The Burned Girl.

Ava Lee has lost everything there is to lose: Her parents. Her best friend. Her home. Even her face. She doesn’t need a mirror to know what she looks like–she can see her reflection in the eyes of everyone around her.

A year after the fire that destroyed her world, her aunt and uncle have decided she should go back to high school. Be “normal” again. Whatever that is. Ava knows better. There is no normal for someone like her. And forget making friends–no one wants to be seen with the Burned Girl, now or ever.

But when Ava meets a fellow survivor named Piper, she begins to feel like maybe she doesn’t have to face the nightmare alone. Sarcastic and blunt, Piper isn’t afraid to push Ava out of her comfort zone. Piper introduces Ava to Asad, a boy who loves theater just as much as she does, and slowly, Ava tries to create a life again. Yet Piper is fighting her own battle, and soon Ava must decide if she’s going to fade back into her scars ... or let the people by her side help her fly.

Visit Erin Stewart's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Clearing the Air"

New from Bloomsbury USA: Clearing the Air: The Beginning and the End of Air Pollution by Tim Smedley.

About the book, from the publisher:

The story of what's happened to the air we breathe, the impact it has had on our health and what we can do to fight back.

Clearing the Air tells the full story of what's happened to the air we breathe. Sustainability journalist Tim Smedley explains exactly what air pollution is, which chemicals are the dangerous ones and where they come from. He interviews the scientists and politicians at the forefront of air pollution research as well as those whose lives have been affected by smog. This groundbreaking book reveals the extreme instances of air pollution that have happened around the world, including London, Beijing, Delhi and LA, as well as examining recent stories like the VW diesel scandal.

Globally, 18,000 people die each day from air pollution. For the most part, air pollution is anonymous; an invisible killer borne from the cars in our driveways and the industrial processes used to make stuff, but there is so much we don't know. Parents on the school run in their 4x4s have never been told that the pollution inside the car is 5 times worse than that on the street outside, or that studies show how air pollution stunts lung growth in children.

Around the world, more than eight-out-of-ten people who live in cities breathe in concentrations of air pollutants that exceed international air quality guidelines. The annual number of deaths--6.5 million--is far greater than those from HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and car crashes combined, and it is getting worse. These problems can be solved, and the message of the book is positive. The overwhelming majority of air pollutants are local, short-lived, and can be stopped at source; the benefits to health, instant and dramatic. There are many stories that show how the fightback against air pollution can and does work, and we can all play a part to clear our air.

Visit Tim Smedley's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"The Professor of Immortality"

New from Delphinium: The Professor of Immortality by Eileen Pollack.

About the book, from the publisher:

Professor Maxine Sayers once found her personal and professional life so fulfilling that she founded the Institute of Future Studies, a program dedicated to studying the effects of technology on our culture and finding ways to prolong human life. But when her beloved husband dies, she is so devastated she can barely get out of bed. To make matters worse, her son, Zach, has abruptly quit his job in Silicon Valley and been out of contact for seven months. Maxine is jolted from her grief by her sudden suspicion that a favorite former student (and a former close friend of her son) might be a terrorist called the Technobomber and that Zach might either be involved in or become a victim of this extremist’s bombing. Deserting her teaching responsibilities, her ailing mother, and an appealing suitor, Maxine feels compelled to set out and search for her son in order to warn and protect him, even as she knows she should report her suspicions to the FBI to prevent greater carnage.

Visit Eileen Pollack's website.

The Page 69 Test: A Perfect Life.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Everything You Have Told Me Is True"

New from Hurst: Everything You Have Told Me Is True: The Many Faces of Al Shabaab by Mary Harper.

About the book, from the publisher:

The East African group Al Shabaab is one of the century's most successful violent jihadist movements. Now over a decade old, its staying power has defied local and international efforts to destroy it, including US drone attacks and an African Union force. It also has governing power, ruling over millions of Somalis and vast swathes of territory, and physical power, committing spectacular acts of violence. But what lies behind the headlines and the bloodshed? Who are Al Shabaab and why do people join? How does this organization govern, educate and indoctrinate? How does it operate such successful financial, communications and intelligence networks?

BBC Africa Editor Mary Harper has reported on Somalia for twenty-five years. She has gained extraordinary access to members of Al Shabaab-and they in turn have intruded unsettlingly into her life. Travelling throughout the region, she speaks to ordinary people with daily experience of Al Shabaab. Some have suffered tremendous loss or made unbearable compromises; others have benefited, often in unexpected ways.

Harper's account is a must-read for anyone looking to get under the skin of violent jihadists, those who report on them, and those who must live in their shadow.

Visit Mary Harper's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"A Bitter Feast"

Coming soon from William Morrow: A Bitter Feast: A Novel by Deborah Crombie.

About the book, from the publisher:

New York Times bestselling author Deborah Crombie returns with a mesmerizing entry in her “excellent” (Miami Herald) series, in which Scotland Yard detectives Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James are pulled into a dangerous web of secrets, lies, and murder that simmers beneath the surface of a tranquil Cotswolds village.

Scotland Yard Detective Superintendent Duncan Kincaid and his wife, Detective Inspector Gemma James, have been invited for a relaxing weekend in the Cotswolds, one of Britain’s most enchanting regions, famous for its rolling hills, golden cottages, and picturesque villages.

Duncan, Gemma, and their children are guests at Beck House, the family estate of Melody Talbot, Gemma’s detective sergeant. The Talbot family is wealthy, prominent, and powerful—Melody’s father is the publisher of one of London’s largest and most influential newspapers. The centerpiece of this glorious fall getaway is a posh charity harvest luncheon catered by up-and-coming chef Viv Holland. After fifteen years in London’s cut-throat food scene, Viv has returned to the Gloucestershire valleys of her childhood and quickly made a name for herself with her innovative meals based on traditional cuisine but using fresh local ingredients. Attended by the local well-to-do as well as national press food bloggers and restaurant critics, the event could make Viv a star.

But a tragic car accident and a series of mysterious deaths rock the estate and pull Duncan and Gemma into the investigation. It soon becomes clear that the killer has a connection with Viv’s pub—or, perhaps, with Beck House itself.

Does the truth lie in the past? Or is it closer to home, tied up in the tangled relationships and bitter resentments between the staff at Beck House and Viv’s new pub? Or is it more personal, entwined with secrets hidden by Viv and those closest to her?

Visit Deborah Crombie's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Black Land"

New from Princeton University Press: Black Land: Imperial Ethiopianism and African America by Nadia Nurhussein.

About the book, from the publisher:

The first book to explore how African American writing and art engaged with visions of Ethiopia during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries

As the only African nation, with the exception of Liberia, to remain independent during the colonization of the continent, Ethiopia has long held significance for and captivated the imaginations of African Americans. In Black Land, Nadia Nurhussein delves into nineteenth- and twentieth-century African American artistic and journalistic depictions of Ethiopia, illuminating the increasing tensions and ironies behind cultural celebrations of an African country asserting itself as an imperial power.

Nurhussein navigates texts by Walt Whitman, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Pauline Hopkins, Harry Dean, Langston Hughes, Claude McKay, George Schuyler, and others, alongside images and performances that show the intersection of African America with Ethiopia during historic political shifts. From a description of a notorious 1920 Star Order of Ethiopia flag-burning demonstration in Chicago to a discussion of the Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie as Time magazine’s Man of the Year for 1935, Nurhussein illuminates the growing complications that modern Ethiopia posed for American writers and activists. American media coverage of the African nation exposed a clear contrast between the Pan-African ideal and the modern reality of Ethiopia as an antidemocratic imperialist state: Did Ethiopia represent the black nation of the future, or one of an inert and static past?

Revising current understandings of black transnationalism, Black Land presents a well-rounded exploration of an era when Ethiopia’s presence in African American culture was at its height.

--Marshal Zeringue

"All the Devils"

New from Thomas & Mercer: All the Devils by Barry Eisler.

About the book, from the publisher:

A search for a pair of serial rapists leads Livia Lone down the darkest and most dangerous trail of her life in a pulse-pounding thriller by New York Times bestselling author Barry Eisler.

Ten years ago, the daughter of Homeland Security Investigations agent B. D. Little vanished into thin air. So did seven other girls—the crimes all bearing the same signature characteristics.

Now the disappearances have begun again. And Agent Little’s efforts to investigate are being blocked by forces far above his pay grade. Desperate, he turns to Seattle sex-crimes detective Livia Lone, the most obsessive hunter of predators Little knows.

Livia will need that obsessiveness, and a lot more. Because the two men Little is pursuing are fearsome. Both Special Forces veterans with a dozen tours in Iraq between them. Both sadists and serial rapists. And one, the congressman scion of the vice president of the United States—a man who will use all his power to protect his son’s secrets and further his own ambitions.

The conspirators have all the assets and all the angles. And every reason to believe they’ll evade justice, as they always have before.

They don’t understand that for Livia Lone, justice is only a guideline. Revenge is the rule.

Visit Barry Eisler's website.

The Page 69 Test: Livia Lone.

The Page 69 Test: The Killer Collective.

Writers Read: Barry Eisler.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Dearest Lenny"

New from Oxford University Press: Dearest Lenny: Letters from Japan and the Making of the World Maestro by Mari Yoshihara.

About the book, from the publisher:

Much has been written about Leonard Bernstein, a musician of extraordinary talent who was legendary for his passionate love of life and many relationships. In this work, Mari Yoshihara reveals the deeply emotional connections Bernstein formed with two little-known Japanese individuals, which she narrates through their personal letters that have never been seen before.

Dearest Lenny interweaves an intimate story of love and art with a history of Bernstein's transformation from an American icon to a world maestro during the second half of the twentieth century. The articulate, moving letters of Kazuko Amano--a woman who began writing fan letters to Bernstein in 1947 and became a close family friend--and Kunihiko Hashimoto--a young man who fell in love with the maestro in 1979 and later became his business representative--convey the meaning Bernstein and his music had at various stages of their lives. The letters also shed light on how Bernstein's compositions, recordings, and performances touched his audiences around the world. The book further traces the making of a global Bernstein amidst the shifting landscape of classical music that made this American celebrity turn increasingly to Europe and Japan. The dramatic change in Japan's place in the world and its relationship to the United States during the postwar decades shaped Bernstein's connection to the country. Ultimately, Dearest Lenny is a story of relationships--between the two individuals and Bernstein, the United States and the world, art and commerce, artists and the state, private and public, conventions and transgressions, dreams and realities--that were at the core of Bernstein's greatest achievements and challenges and that made him truly a maestro of the world.

Dearest Lenny paints a poignant portrait of individuals connected across cultures, languages, age, and status through correspondence and music--and the world that shaped their relationships.

Visit Mari Yoshihara's website.

--Marshal Zeringue