"Fun City Heist"

New from Severn House: Fun City Heist by Michael Kardos.

About the novel, from the publisher:

A washed—up rockstar gets his old band back together for one final gig . . . and one daring robbery! A brilliantly funny, twisty heist caper from Pushcart Prize—winning author Michael Kardos.

Mo Melnick used to be a drummer in rock band Sunshine Apocalypse. He used to be someone. These days he rents beach umbrellas on the Jersey Shore.

The last thing he expects is for Johnny Clay, his old bandmate turned enemy, to ask him a favor. Johnny’s dying, and before he passes he wants Sunshine Apocalypse to reunite for one last gig at Fun City, the beachfront amusement park where their musical journey began.

Mo’s in—reluctantly. But then Johnny reveals his real plan: He doesn’t just want to play at Fun City on the fourth of July. He wants to rob it.

The plan is crazy. It has more holes than a golf course. But Mo’s sick of barely keeping his head above water, so he and his gang of middle—aged has—beens dive into what will be the most outrageous heist New Jersey’s ever seen—if, that is, they can pull it off alive . . .

Packed with astonishing twists and laugh—out—loud moments, Michael Kardos’ unique comedic thriller is perfect for fans of Elmore Leonard and Donald Westlake.

Visit Michael Kardos's website.

The Page 69 Test: The Three Day Affair.

My Book, The Movie: The Three-Day Affair.

My Book, The Movie: Before He Finds Her.

The Page 69 Test: Before He Finds Her.

The Page 69 Test: Bluff.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Desert Imaginations"

New from the University of California Press: Desert Imaginations: A History of Saharanism and Its Radical Consequences by Brahim El Guabli.

About the book, from the publisher:

Desert Imaginations traces the cultural and intellectual histories that have informed the prevalent ideas of deserts across the globe. The book argues that Saharanism—a globalizing imaginary that perceives desert spaces as empty, exploitable, and dangerous—has been at the center of all desert-focused enterprises. Encompassing spiritual practices, military thinking, sexual fantasies, experiential quests, extractive economies, and experimental schemes, among other projects, Saharanism has shaped the way deserts not only are constructed intellectually but are acted upon. From nuclear testing to border walls, and much more, Brahim El Guabli articulates some of Saharanism's consequential manifestations across different deserts. Desert Imaginations draws on the abundant historical literature and cultural output in multiple languages and across disciplines to delineate the parameters of Saharanism. Against Saharanism's powerful and reductive vision of deserts, the book rehabilitates a tradition of desert eco-care that has been at work in desert Indigenous people's literary, artistic, scholarly, and ritualistic practices.

--Marshal Zeringue

"All Eyes on Him"

New from Poisoned Pen Press: All Eyes on Him by Iliana Xander.

About the book, from the publisher:

From #1 bestselling author Iliana Xander comes a twisty, fast-paced psychological thriller, perfect for fans of Freida McFadden.

He's the Man of the Year. But what if he is a monster?

When Natalie saw her best friend leaving the club with a handsome stranger, she never would have thought that the next morning, her friend would be discovered unconscious at a bus stop.

What happened that night? Only her best friend knows. And until she recovers from her coma, she won't be able to tell her side of the story.

Natalie is desperate for answers—so she can't believe her luck when she comes across a photo of the man her friend left with. Except he's on the cover of a magazine, being heralded as the "Man of the Year." This man appears untouchable. He's a millionaire. He's famous. But Natalie suspects he's dangerous.

To prove it, she takes up a job as the housekeeper at his mansion. Her plan is simple. Watch his every move. Gather the evidence. And make him pay. But when she discovers that the last housekeeper went missing, she realizes she's in over her head.

She thought she was setting the trap—but has she just fallen into his?

Visit Iliana Xander's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Development Design"

New from the University of Pittsburgh Press: Development Design: Hotels and Politics in the Hispanic Caribbean by Erica Morawski.

About the book, from the publisher:

Underneath picturesque views of palm trees, fruity cocktails in hotel lounges, and day trips to preserved colonial zones lies a history of tourism design that intersects with larger projects of development and national and cultural identity formation. Locating modernity and coloniality as the key framework within which tourism development takes place, Development Design focuses on hotel design and its relation to larger urban and rural landscapes to uncover the way these seemingly carefree spaces are bound to local politics and international relations. Focusing on three sites in the Hispanic Caribbean—San Juan, Ciudad Trujillo, and Havana—Morawski traces different attitudes and approaches to tourism and its material design through five hotels that serve as case studies. Through examination of wicker chairs and lobby interiors, architecture and landscaping, public works and urban planning, Development Design illustrates the integral role hotel design played in negotiated and contested histories of development in Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and Cuba.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Dead Set on You"

New from Crooked Lane Books: Dead Set on You: A Novel by Lexi Alexander.

About the book, from the publisher:

A woman wakes up as a spirit in her rival coworker’s apartment in this charming contemporary romance for fans of The Dead Romantics and The Hating Game.

As workaholic Evie Pope nears thirty, she’s determined to slow down and start enjoying the “life” part of work-life balance. With a major promotion—and the financial security that comes with it—on the horizon, she might finally have her chance. But when she wakes up as a spirit in her work rival’s apartment and learns her body is stuck in a coma, her plans are officially DOA.

Being a spirit is bad enough. Discovering that Rafael Vela—the man who used to be her friend and is now her biggest rival—is the only person who can help her? It’s a special kind of purgatory. In no position to negotiate, she strikes a desperate deal: He gets the promotion if he helps reunite Evie’s spirit with her body.

As they begin to spend more time together, Evie discovers there’s more to Rafael than his bedroom eyes and his hey-there dimpled smile. With only a week until Evie’s body is transferred to long-term care and out of Rafael’s reach, Evie must choose between trusting the man who betrayed her years ago and figuring things out the way she’s always done it: alone.

This contemporary romance with a paranormal twist blends heated banter, old grudges, and unfinished business, perfect for anyone who believes in second chances.

Visit Lexi Alexander's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Lieutenants and Light"

New from the University of New Mexico Press: Lieutenants and Light: Mapping the US Army Heliograph Networks in Late Nineteenth-Century Arizona and New Mexico by Robert E.C. Davis.

About the book, from the publisher:

Lieutenants and Light provides an accurate, detailed historical study of the U.S. Army’s use of the heliograph as a tactical means of communication and command and control in the desert environment of Arizona and New Mexico in the late nineteenth century.

The heliograph network in the Southwest, which began development in 1882, used mirror-based signaling devices to facilitate communication across remote outposts, forts, and detachments. Heliographs enabled soldiers to send messages over long distances using Morse code transmitted through sunlight reflections. During and immediately following the campaign against Geronimo in 1886, General Nelson A. Miles implemented a heliograph network that connected key locations from Nogales, Arizona, to Fort Stanton, New Mexico, enhancing command and control. Additional tests and expansions solidified the heliograph’s role as an essential military communication tool.

Reports from the officers tasked with establishing these stations and modern geospatial analysis have identified almost ninety networked heliograph stations established between 1882 and 1893, culminating in the greatest heliograph network ever built.

Many of the officers who helmed these stations went on to distinguished careers in the military, business, or public service. Some had served in the Civil War, and most were veterans of the Indian Wars. Almost a third of these young officers would go on to become general officers, several serving in leadership roles during World War I. Thus, the heliograph not only connected points across the Southwest but also linked a group of officers whose experience and leadership spanned from the Civil War through World War I.

Visit Robert E.C. Davis's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Before I Forget"

New from St. Martin's Press: Before I Forget: A Novel by Tory Henwood Hoen.

About the book, from the publisher:

A funny, heartfelt, late coming-of-age story that examines the role of memory in holding us back—and in moving us forward—for fans of The Collected Regrets of Clover and Maame.

Call it inertia. Call it a quarter-life crisis. Whatever you call it, Cricket Campbell is stuck. Despite working at a zeitgeisty wellness company, the 26-year-old feels anything but well. Still adrift after a tragedy that upended her world a decade ago, she has entered early adulthood under the weight of a new burden: her father’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis.

When Cricket’s older sister Nina announces it is time to move Arthur from his beloved Adirondack lake house into a memory-care facility, Cricket has a better idea. In returning home to become her father’s caretaker, she hopes to repair their strained relationship and shake herself out of her perma-funk. But even deeply familiar places can hold surprises.

As Cricket settles back into the family house at Catwood Pond—a place she once loved, but hasn’t visited since she was a teenager—she discovers that her father possesses a rare gift: as he loses his grasp of the past, he is increasingly able to predict the future. Before long, Arthur cements his reputation as an unlikely oracle, but for Cricket, believing in her father’s prophecies might also mean facing the most painful parts of her history. As she begins to remember who she once was, she uncovers a vital truth: the path forward often starts by going back.

With laugh-out-loud humor and profound grace, Before I Forget explores the nuances of family, the complexities of memory, and how sometimes, the people we know the best are the ones who surprise us the most.

Visit Tory Henwood Hoen's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"The Six Loves of James I"

New from Atria Books: The Six Loves of James I by Gareth Russell.

About the book, from the publisher:

A groundbreaking and insightful exploration of King James I, enigmatic successor to Queen Elizabeth I, from the “meticulous researcher” (The Wall Street Journal) and author of the “enjoyable and readable” (Philippa Gregory, #1 New York Times bestselling author) The Palace.

From the assassination of his father to the explosive political and personal intrigues of his reign, this fresh biography reveals as never before the passions that drove King James I.

Gareth Russell’s “rollicking, gossipy” (Dan Jones, author of The Plantagenets), and scholarly voice invites us into James’s world, revealing a monarch whose reign was defined by both his public power and personal vulnerabilities. For too long, historians have shied away from or condemned the exploration of his sexuality. Now, Russell offers a candid narrative that not only reveals James’s relationships with five prominent men but also challenges the historical standards applied to the examination of royal intimacies.

This biography stands as a significant contribution to the understanding of royal history, illuminating the personal experiences that shaped James’s political decisions and his philosophical views on masculinity and sexuality.

Visit Gareth Russell's website.

The Page 99 Test: The Ship of Dreams.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Huguette"

New from Soho Crime: Huguette by Cara Black.

About the book, from the publisher:

In the lawlessness of post–World War II France, a resilient young woman fights to survive and make a living, no matter the cost—from the New York Times bestselling author of Three Hours in Paris and the Aimée Leduc series

After Libération, spring 1945: Seventeen-year-old Huguette Faure is a survivor. The war has taken everything from her—both her parents and her sense of safety. Now, pregnant and on the lam, she cannot return to her childhood home in Paris. Forced to reinvent herself, she must outrun her father’s enemies, who want her dead. After narrowly avoiding jail time—thanks to the help of a kindhearted police officer named Claude Leduc—Huguette lands a job assisting a legendary film director. As her role develops from helping him with chores to cooking his books, she sees an opportunity to break free from the ghosts of her past once and for all.

In this big-hearted story of resilience, New York Times bestselling author Cara Black offers a wholly original depiction of postwar France as well as introduces Claude Leduc—the man who decades later inspired his granddaughter, Aimée, to become a private investigator.

Visit Cara Black's website and follow her on Twitter, Instagram, and Threads.

The Page 69 Test: Murder at the Lanterne Rouge.

My Book, the Movie: Murder at the Lanterne Rouge.

The Page 69 Test: Murder below Montparnasse.

The Page 69 Test: Murder in Pigalle.

My Book, The Movie: Murder in Pigalle.

My Book, The Movie: Murder on the Champ de Mars.

The Page 69 Test: Three Hours in Paris.

The Page 69 Test: Night Flight to Paris.

Writers Read: Cara Black (March 2023).

Writers Read: Cara Black (March 2024).

The Page 69 Test: Murder at la Villette.

--Marshal Zeringue

"The Classroom and the Crowd"

New from Columbia University Press: The Classroom and the Crowd: Poetry and the Promise of Digital Community by Al Filreis.

About the book, from the publisher:

For more than a decade, Al Filreis has taught a free online course about experimental poetry, known as “ModPo,” that has drawn some 435,000 students from 179 countries. Online classes even a fraction of ModPo’s size have been criticized as impersonal and unengaging. But the citizens of ModPo have formed a generous and enduring intellectual community as together they read poems typically dismissed as difficult and inaccessible.

In The Classroom and the Crowd, Filreis reflects on his decades of experience as a founder of participatory literary communities and teacher of online courses, demonstrating that student-centered education offers new possibilities for humane social networking. Introducing readers to ModPo participants and their open-ended, round-the-clock conversations, he shows how online learning can not only be accessible and educational but also deepen our commitment to democracy. Filreis argues that the emphasis on collaborative learning, space for discussion, and the inherent openness of poetry allows for a sense of community, continuity, and even intimacy that often eludes other online educational endeavors. ModPo embodies principles underlying both modern poetics and cooperative education: Writers and readers, like teachers and learners, create meaning together; many voices are clearer than one; and democracy is a creative practice. Proposing an optimistic vision of mass learning, this book contends that asynchronous education has surprising advantages over the traditional classroom, that panics about a crisis of attention and the death of reading are overblown―and that instead of logging off, we should all start reading with a crowd.

--Marshal Zeringue