"The Broken Dragon"

New from DAW / Penguin: The Broken Dragon: Children of the Dragon Nimbus #2 by Irene Radford.

About the book, from the publisher:

Full of life and energy, Lily has great ability with plants and their healing properties, but no magical talent. In contrast, her beloved twin sister Valeria has unmatched magical abilities, but is frail and often ill. Since birth the two sisters have completed each other, but the older they become, the more apparent it is that magic is taking its toll on Val.

Together the sisters embark on a journey to solve Val's magical problem, and along the way to meet their mentors, the girls encounter several other magic users also struggling with severe weaknesses. However, before they can reach their destination, their caravan is overtaken by a dangerous magical storm, conjured by a rogue magician bent on revenge.

In the storm the sisters are separated, and unless they can unite this eclectic group of magic users—who must all overcome their individual weaknesses— and find each other again, this rogue mage could prove the end of Coronnan.

Visit Irene Radford's website and Facebook page.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Kids These Days"

New from Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill: Kids These Days: A Novel by Drew Perry.

About the book, from the publisher:

Walter and Alice are expecting their first baby, but their timing is a bit off: Walter, once a successful loan officer, has been unexpectedly downsized.They’ve had to relocate to Florida so that they can live rent-free—in Alice’s deceased aunt’s condo. When Alice’s brother-in-law Mid offers Walter a job, he literally can’t refuse. But what he doesn’t know—about the nature of the job, about the depth of Mid’s shady dealings, about what he’s really supposed to be doing—far outweighs what he does know. And soon enough, things escalate so out of control that Walter is riding shotgun with Mid in a bright yellow Camaro—chased by the police.

Drew Perry paints a landscape of weird and beautiful Florida and its inhabitants—all wholly original and hilarious, and utterly believable. And at the center is a portrait of a father-to-be who is paralyzed by the idea of taking responsibility for another human life when he can’t seem to manage his own. Kids These Days takes perfect aim at the two sides of impending fatherhood—abject terror and unconditional love.

Visit Drew Perry's website and Facebook page.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Badluck Way"

New from Atria Books: Badluck Way: A Year on the Ragged Edge of the West by Bryce Andrews.

About the book, from the publisher:

“Mine might have been a simple, pretty story, if not for the wolves. In late July, they emerged from the foothills...”

In this gripping memoir of a young man, a wolf, their parallel lives and ultimate collision, Bryce Andrews describes life on the remote, windswept Sun Ranch in southwest Montana. The Sun’s twenty thousand acres of rangeland occupy a still-wild corner of southwest Montana—a high valley surrounded by mountain ranges and steep creeks with portentous names like Grizzly, Dead Man, and Bad Luck. Just over the border from Yellowstone National Park, the Sun holds giant herds of cattle and elk amid many predators—bears, mountain lions, and wolves. In lyrical, haunting language, Andrews recounts marathon days and nights of building fences, riding, roping, and otherwise learning the hard business of caring for cattle, an initiation that changes him from an idealistic city kid into a skilled ranch hand. But when wolves suddenly begin killing the ranch’s cattle, Andrews has to shoulder a rifle, chase the pack, and do what he’d hoped he would never have to do.

Badluck Way is about transformation and complications, about living with dirty hands every day. It is about the hard choices that wake us at night and take a lifetime to reconcile. Above all, Badluck Way celebrates the breathtaking beauty of wilderness and the satisfaction of hard work on some of the harshest, most beautiful land in the world. Called “an important meditation on what it means to share space and breathe the same air as truly wild animals” (Tom Groneberg, author of The Secret Life of Cowboys), Badluck Way is the memorable story of one young man’s rebirth in the crucible of the West’s timeless landscape, a place at the center of the heart’s geography, savage and gorgeous in equal measure.

--Marshal Zeringue

"And We Stay"

New from Delacorte Press: And We Stay by Jenny Hubbard.

About the book, from the publisher:

When high school senior Paul Wagoner walks into his school library with a stolen gun, he threatens his girlfriend Emily Beam, then takes his own life. In the wake of the tragedy, an angry and guilt-ridden Emily is shipped off to boarding school in Amherst, Massachusetts, where she encounters a ghostly presence who shares her name. The spirit of Emily Dickinson and two quirky girls offer helping hands, but it is up to Emily to heal her own damaged self.

This inventive story, told in verse and in prose, paints the aftermath of tragedy as a landscape where there is good behind the bad, hope inside the despair, and springtime under the snow.

Learn more about the book and author at Jenny Hubbard's website.

My Book, The Movie: Paper Covers Rock.

Read--Coffee with a Canine: Jenny Hubbard and Oliver.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Cruel Beauty"

New from Balzer+Bray/HarperCollins: Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge.

About the book, from the publisher:

The romance of Beauty and the Beast meets the adventure of Graceling in a dazzling fantasy novel about our deepest desires and their power to change our destiny.

Betrothed to the evil ruler of her kingdom, Nyx has always known her fate was to marry him, kill him, and free her people from his tyranny.

But on her seventeenth birthday, when she moves into his castle high on the kingdom's mountaintop, nothing is as she expected—particularly her charming and beguiling new husband.

Nyx knows she must save her homeland at all costs, yet she can't resist the pull of her sworn enemy—who's gotten in her way by stealing her heart.

For fans of bestselling authors Kristin Cashore and Alex Flinn, this gorgeously written debut infuses the classic fairy tale with glittering magic, a feisty heroine, and a romance sure to take your breath away.

Visit Rosamund Hodge's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"The Sharpest Blade"

New from Ace / Penguin: The Sharpest Blade by Sandy Williams.

About the book, from the publisher:

McKenzie Lewis’s ability to read the shadows has put her—and those she loves—in harm’s way again and again. The violence must end, but will the cost of peace be more devastating than anyone ever imagined?

After ten years of turmoil, the life McKenzie has always longed for may finally be within her grasp. No one is swinging a sword at her head or asking her to track the fae, and she finally has a regular—albeit boring—job. But when a ruthless enemy strikes against her friends, McKenzie abandons her attempt at normalcy and rushes back to the Realm.

With the fae she loves and the fae she’s tied to pulling her in different directions, McKenzie must uncover the truth behind the war and accept the painful sacrifices that must be made to end it. Armed with dangerous secrets and with powerful allies at her side, her actions will either rip the Realm apart—or save it.

Visit Sandy Williams's website and Facebook page.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Decoding Your Dog"

New from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt: Decoding Your Dog: The Ultimate Experts Explain Common Dog Behaviors and Reveal How to Prevent or Change Unwanted Ones by American College of Veterinary Behaviorists, edited by Debra Horwitz and John Ciribassi with Steve Dale.

About the book, from the publisher:

More than ninety percent of dog owners consider their pets to be members of their family. But often, despite our best intentions, we are letting our dogs down by not giving them the guidance and direction they need. Unwanted behavior is the number-one reason dogs are relinquished to shelters and rescue groups.

The key to training dogs effectively is first to understand why our dogs do what they do. And no one can address this more authoritatively than the diplomates of the American College of Veterinary Behavior, whose work, the culmination of years of rigorous training, takes them deep into the minds of dogs in an effort to decode how they think, how they communicate, and how they learn.

In Decoding Your Dog, these experts analyze problem behaviors, decipher the latest studies, and correct common misconceptions and outmoded theories. The book includes:

• Effective, veterinary-approved positive training methods

• Expert advice on socialization, housetraining, diet, and exercise

• Remedies for behavior problems such as OCD and aggression

With Decoding Your Dog the experts’ experts deliver a must-have dog behavior guide that ultimately challenge the way we think about our dogs.

Learn more about Decoding Your Dog at the publisher's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Somewhere in France"

New from William Morrow: Somewhere in France by Jennifer Robson.

About the book, from the publisher:

In the dark and dangerous days of World War I, a daring young woman will risk her life to find her destiny

Lady Elizabeth Neville-Ashford wants to travel the world, pursue a career, and marry for love. But in 1914, the stifling restrictions of aristocratic British society and her mother's rigid expectations forbid Lilly from following her heart. When war breaks out, the spirited young woman seizes her chance for independence. Defying her parents, she moves to London and eventually becomes an ambulance driver in the newly formed Women's Army Auxiliary Corps—an exciting and treacherous job that takes her close to the Western Front.

Assigned to a field hospital in France, Lilly is reunited with Robert Fraser, her dear brother Edward's best friend. The handsome Scottish surgeon has always encouraged Lilly's dreams. She doesn't care that Robbie grew up in poverty—she yearns for their friendly affection to become something more. Lilly is the most beautiful—and forbidden—woman Robbie has ever known. Fearful for her life, he's determined to keep her safe, even if it means breaking her heart.

In a world divided by class and filled with uncertainty and death, can their hope for love survive...or will it become another casualty of this tragic war?

Read more about Somewhere in France and visit Jennifer Robson's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"The Democratic Surround"

New from the University of Chicago Press: The Democratic Surround: Multimedia and American Liberalism from World War II to the Psychedelic Sixties by Fred Turner.

About the book, from the publisher:

We commonly think of the psychedelic sixties as an explosion of creative energy and freedom that arose in direct revolt against the social restraint and authoritarian hierarchy of the early Cold War years. Yet, as Fred Turner reveals in The Democratic Surround, the decades that brought us the Korean War and communist witch hunts also witnessed an extraordinary turn toward explicitly democratic, open, and inclusive ideas of communication and with them new, flexible models of social order. Surprisingly, he shows that it was this turn that brought us the revolutionary multimedia and wild-eyed individualism of the 1960s counterculture.

In this prequel to his celebrated book From Counterculture to Cyberculture, Turner rewrites the history of postwar America, showing how in the 1940s and ’50s American liberalism offered a far more radical social vision than we now remember. Turner tracks the influential mid-century entwining of Bauhaus aesthetics with American social science and psychology. From the Museum of Modern Art in New York to the New Bauhaus in Chicago and Black Mountain College in North Carolina, Turner shows how some of the most well-known artists and intellectuals of the forties developed new models of media, new theories of interpersonal and international collaboration, and new visions of an open, tolerant, and democratic self in direct contrast to the repression and conformity associated with the fascist and communist movements. He then shows how their work shaped some of the most significant media events of the Cold War, including Edward Steichen’s Family of Man exhibition, the multimedia performances of John Cage, and, ultimately, the psychedelic Be-Ins of the sixties. Turner demonstrates that by the end of the 1950s this vision of the democratic self and the media built to promote it would actually become part of the mainstream, even shaping American propaganda efforts in Europe.

Overturning common misconceptions of these transformational years, The Democratic Surround shows just how much the artistic and social radicalism of the sixties owed to the liberal ideals of Cold War America, a democratic vision that still underlies our hopes for digital media today.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Killing Cupid"

New from Kensington: Killing Cupid by Laura Levine.

About the book, from the publisher:

Love is in the air as freelance writer Jaine Austen begins a new job at the Dates of Joy matchmaking service--but between juggling her boss's demands, deflecting the advances of an eccentric suitor, and tracking down a calculating killer, she hardly has time to think about romance...

When Jaine lands a job writing web copy and brochures for matchmaker Joy Amoroso, she's excited for a chance to help the lovelorn just in time for Valentine's Day--until she realizes what "Dates of Joy" is really all about. Joy is a ruthless taskmaster who screams at her employees for the smallest infractions, pads her website with pictures of professional models posing as clients, and offers up convincing but empty promises of love in exchange for inordinate sums of money. And woe betide anyone who lays a finger on her heavily guarded stash of chocolates.

So it's no surprise when the chiseling cupid turns up dead at a Valentine's Day mixer. Aghast to find herself on the cops' suspect list, Jaine sets out to track down the killer. Who could it be? Joy's harried assistants, whose lives she made a living hell? Her younger lover? The handsome hunk of a client with a secret in his past? Or the furious Beverly Hills widow who forked over the last of her savings for a Prince Charming who never materialized?

Joy left behind a slew of enemies struck by her deviant arrows, so finding the culprit may prove harder than spotting that elusive caramel praline in a box of chocolates--and Jaine will have to flirt with danger to get to the truth...

Visit Laura Levine's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"The Promise of Amazing"

New from Balzer + Bray: The Promise of Amazing by Robin Constantine.

About the book, from the publisher:

Wren Caswell is average. Ranked in the middle of her class at Sacred Heart, she's not popular, not a social misfit. Wren is the quiet good girl who's always done what she's supposed to—only now, in her junior year, this passive strategy is backfiring. She wants to change but doesn't know how.

Grayson Barrett was the king of St. Gabe's: star of the lacrosse team, top of his class, and on the fast track to a brilliant future—until he was expelled for being a "term-paper pimp." Now Gray is in a downward spiral and needs to change but doesn't know how.

One fateful night, their paths cross at Wren's family's Arthurian-themed catering hall. What follows is the complicated, awkward, hilarious, and tender tale of two teens shedding their pasts, figuring out who they are—and falling in love.

Visit Robin Constantine's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Ruby Goldberg's Bright Idea"

New from Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers: Ruby Goldberg's Bright Idea by Anna Humphrey, illustrated by Vanessa Brantley Newton.

About the book, from the publisher:

Ruby wants first prize at the fifth grade science fair—and she thinks her quirky, creative, Rube Goldberg–esque invention is just the way to get it!

Ten-year-old Ruby Goldberg is determined to win her school science fair and beat her nemesis Dominic Robinson. She’s snagged second place for the last two years, and she’s set on claiming first prize. The only trouble is that Ruby has no ideas. When her grandfather’s beloved basset hound dies, Ruby thinks of the perfect thing that will cheer him up and win her first place—an innovative, state-of-the-art, not-to-be-duplicated Ruby Goldberg invention!

Before long Ruby is so busy working on her idea that she ignores everything else in her life, including her best friend, Penny. And what started out as simple turns into something much more complicated! Can Ruby get her priorities—and the mechanisms of her project—in order before it’s too late?

Visit Anna Humphrey's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Enders"

New from Delacorte Press: Enders by Lissa Price.

About the book, from the publisher:

The riveting conclusion to the sci-fi thriller STARTERS!

Someone is after Starters like Callie and Michael—teens with chips in their brains. They want to experiment on anyone left over from Prime Destinations—Starters who can be controlled and manipulated. With the body bank destroyed, Callie no longer has to rent herself out to creepy Enders. But Enders can still get inside her mind and make her do things she doesn't want to do. Like hurt someone she loves. Having the chip removed could save her life—but it could also silence the voice in her head that might belong to her father. Callie has flashes of her ex-renter Helena's memories, too . . . and the Old Man is back, filling her with fear. Who is real and who is masquerading in a teen body?

No one is ever who they appear to be, not even the Old Man. Determined to find out who he really is and grasping at the hope of a normal life for herself and her younger brother, Callie is ready to fight for the truth. Even if it kills her.

Visit Lissa Price's website and follow her on Facebook.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Rosarito Beach"

New from Blue Rider Press: Rosarito Beach by M. A. Lawson.

About the book, from the publisher:

Bold, brash, and beautiful, Kay Hamilton is not your average DEA agent she s as infuriating as she is irresistible. Having recently been transferred to San Diego after a case in Miami brought her more notoriety than medals, Kay once again finds herself embroiled in an international bust. Tito Olivera, younger brother of drug czar Caesar Olivera, is within her grasp. If she takes down Tito, Kay is positive that Caesar will follow and when Caesar falls, so does the largest and most vicious cartel in Mexico. But when a mysterious stranger shows up on her doorstep, all of Kay s carefully laid plans are thrown out the window. The Olivera case suddenly becomes far more personal not to mention dangerous and Kay must be willing to sacrifice everything to get her man.

Rosarito Beach is an explosive, action-packed thriller that will have readers on the edge of their seats until the final moments of the epic conclusion.

Learn more about the author and his work at Mike Lawson's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Head Strong"

New from Oxford University Press: Head Strong: How Psychology is Revolutionizing War by Michael D. Matthews.

About the book, from the publisher:

Psychology is the science that will determine who wins and who loses the wars of the 21st century, just as physics ultimately led the United States to victory in World War II. Changes in the world's political landscape coupled with radical advances in the technology of war will greatly alter how militaries are formed, trained, and led. Leadership under fire - and the traits and skills it requires - is also changing. Grant, Lee, Pershing, Patton - these generals would not succeed in 21st century conflicts.

In Head Strong: Psychology and Military Dominance in the 21st Century, Michael D. Matthews explores the many ways that psychology will make the difference for wars yet to come, from revolutionary advances in soldier selection and training to new ways of preparing soldiers to remain resilient in the face of horror and to engineering the super-soldier of the future. These advancements will ripple out to impact on the lives of all of us, not just soldiers. Amputees will have "intelligent" life-like prosthetics that simulate the feel and function of a real limb. Those exposed to trauma will have new and more effective remedies to prevent or treat post-traumatic stress disorder. And a revolution in training - based heavily in the military's increasing reliance on immersive simulations - will radically alter how police, fire, and first-responder personnel are trained in the future.

At its heart, war is the most human of endeavors. Psychology, as the science of human behavior, will prove essential to success in future war. Authored by a West Point military psychologist, this book is one of the first to expose us to the smarter wars, and the world around them, to come.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Becoming Josephine"

New from Plume: Becoming Josephine: A Novel by Heather Webb.

About the book, from the publisher:

A sweeping historical debut about the Creole socialite who transformed herself into an empress

Readers are fascinated with the wives of famous men. In Becoming Josephine, debut novelist Heather Webb follows Rose Tascher as she sails from her Martinique plantation to Paris, eager to enjoy an elegant life at the royal court. Once there, however, Rose’s aristocratic soldier-husband dashes her dreams by abandoning her amid the tumult of the French Revolution. After narrowly escaping death, Rose reinvents herself as Josephine, a beautiful socialite wooed by an awkward suitor—Napoleon Bonaparte.

Visit Heather Webb's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Burning the Reichstag"

New from Oxford University Press: Burning the Reichstag: An Investigation into the Third Reich's Enduring Mystery by Benjamin Carter Hett.

About the book, from the publisher:

In February 1933, Adolf Hitler had only a tenuous grasp on power. Chancellor of Germany for merely four weeks, he led a fragile coalition government. The Nazis had lost seats in the Reichstag in the recent election, and claimed only three of thirteen cabinet posts. Then on February 27th, arson sent the Reichstag, the home and symbol of German democracy, up in flames. Immediately blaming the Communists, Hitler's new government approved a decree that tore the heart out of the democratic constitution of the Weimar Republic and cancelled the rule of law. Five thousand people were immediately arrested. The Reichstag fire marked the true beginning of the Third Reich, which ruled for 12 more years. The controversy surrounding the fire's origins has endured for 80.

In Burning the Reichstag, Benjamin Hett offers a gripping account of Hitler's rise to dictatorship-one that challenges orthodoxy and recovers the true significance of the part the fire played. At the scene the police arrested 23-year-old Marinus van der Lubbe, a Dutch Communist stonemason. Though he was initially dismissed abroad as a Nazi tool, post-war historians since the 1950s have largely judged him solely guilty-a lone arsonist exploited by Hitler. Hett's book reopens the case, providing vivid portraits of key figures, including Rudolf Diels, Hermann Goering, Joseph Goebbels, and the historian Fritz Tobias, whose account of the fire has, until now, been the standard. Making use of a number of new sources and archives, Hett sets the Reichstag fire in a wider context, revealing how and why it has remained one of the last mysteries of the Nazi period, and one of the most controversial and contested events in the 20th century. Burning the Reichstag will stand as the landmark work on this subject.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Starter House"

New from William Morrow Paperbacks: Starter House: A Novel by Sonja Condit.

About the book, from the publisher:

Her dream home is about to become a house of nightmares...

From the moment Lacey glimpses the dusty-rose colonial cottage with its angled dormer windows and quaint wooden shutters, she knows she's found her dream house. Walking through its cozy rooms, the expectant mother can see her future children sitting on the round bottom step of the house's beautifully carved staircase, and she imagines them playing beneath the giant maple tree in the warm South Carolina sun. It doesn't matter to Lacey and her husband, Eric, that people had died there years before.

But soon their warm and welcoming house turns cold. There is something malevolent within the walls—a disturbing presence that only Lacey can sense. And there is Drew, a demanding and jealous little boy who mysteriously appears when Lacey is alone. Protective of this enigmatic child who reminds her of the troubled students she used to teach, Lacey bakes cookies and plays games to amuse him. Yet, as she quickly discovers, Drew is unpredictable—and dangerous.

Fearing for her baby's safety, Lacey sets out to uncover the truth about Drew and her dream house—a search for answers that takes her into the past, into the lives of a long-dead family whose tragic secrets could destroy her. To save her loved ones, Lacey must find a way to lay a terrifying evil to rest...before she, Eric, and their child become its next victims.

Visit Sonja Condit's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Unremarried Widow"

New from Simon & Schuster: Unremarried Widow: A Memoir by Artis Henderson.

About the book, from the publisher:

In this powerful memoir, a young woman loses her husband twenty years after her own mother was widowed, and overcomes two generations of tragedy to discover that both hope and love endure.

Artis Henderson was a free-spirited young woman with dreams of traveling the world and one day becoming a writer. Marrying a conservative Texan soldier and becoming an Army wife was never part of her plan, but when she met Miles, Artis threw caution to the wind and moved with him to a series of Army bases in dusty southern towns, far from the exotic future of her dreams. If this was true love, she was ready to embrace it.

But when Miles was training and Artis was left alone, her feelings of isolation and anxiety competed with the warmth and unconditional acceptance she’d found with Miles. She made few friends among the other Army wives. In some ways these were the only women who could truly empathize with her lonely, often fearful existence— yet they kept their distance, perhaps sensing the great potential for heartbreak among their number.

It did not take long for a wife’s worst fears to come true. On November 6, 2006, the Apache helicopter carrying Miles crashed in Iraq, leaving twenty-six-year-old Artis—in official military terms—an “unremarried widow.” A role, she later realized, that her mother had been preparing her for for most of her life.

In this memoir Artis recounts not only the unlikely love story she shared with Miles and her unfathomable recovery in the wake of his death— from the dark hours following the military notification to the first fumbling attempts at new love—but also reveals how Miles’s death mirrored her father’s death in a plane crash, which Artis survived when she was five years old and which left her own mother a young widow.

In impeccable prose, Artis chronicles the years bookended by the loss of these men—each of whom she knew for only a short time but who had a profound impact on her life and on the woman she has become.

Visit Artis Henderson's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Red 1-2-3"

New from Grove/Atlantic: Red 1-2-3 by John Katzenbach.

About the book, from the publisher:

Three women. They have nothing in common. They are different ages, come from different background, and lead drastically different lives. The only thing that binds them together is their red hair--and that each of them has been targeted for murder.

When each 'Red' receives a chilling letter in the mail from a killer known only as the Wolf, their lives are upended as they spend every waking moment in the fear that their lives could be snuffed out at any moment. The Wolf is stalking them, biding his time, waiting for the perfect moment to complete his master plan. Yet the one thing this cunning and devious killer didn't plan for is the Reds discovering each other.

The three women, using clues left by the Wolf, manage to band together in the hopes of protecting one another from this deadly predator. With law enforcement turning their backs on the Reds, their only hope for survival is to turn the tables, for the prey to become the predators. In a riveting game of cat-and-mouse, the Reds must track down the Wolf himself--before he silences each of them forever.

--Marshal Zeringue

"The Sacrificial Man"

New from Skyhorse: The Sacrificial Man: A Thriller by Ruth Dugdall.

About the book, from the publisher:

An intriguing psychological thriller with twists and turns about the morality of assisted suicide.

When Probation Officer Cate Austin is given her new assignment, she faces the highest-profile case of her career. Alice Mariani is charged with assisted suicide and Cate must recommend a sentence.

Publishers Weekly called the novel "a fascinating psychological thriller."

Visit Ruth Dugdall's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Afterparty"

New from Simon Pulse: Afterparty by Ann Redisch Stampler.

About the book, from the publisher:

A toxic friendship takes a dangerous turn in this riveting novel from the author of Where It Began.

Emma is tired of being good. Always the dutiful daughter to an overprotective father, she is the antithesis of her mother—whose name her dad won’t even say out loud. That’s why meeting Siobhan is the best thing that ever happened to her…and the most dangerous. Because Siobhan is fun and alluring and experienced and lives on the edge. In other words, she’s everything Emma isn’t.

And it may be more than Emma can handle.

Because as intoxicating as her secret life may be, when Emma begins to make her own decisions, Siobhan starts to unravel. It’s more than just Dylan, the boy who comes between them. Their high-stakes pacts are spinning out of control. Elaborate lies become second nature. Loyalties and boundaries are blurred. And it all comes to a head at the infamous Afterparty, a bash where debauchery rages and an intense, inescapable confrontation ends in a plummet from the rooftop...

Visit Ann Redisch Stampler's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Moonkind"

New from HarperCollins: Moonkind by Sarah Prineas.

About the book, from the publisher:

Our oaths bind us together, the crow-woman had said. When an oath is broken there is a price. And it is always more than the oath breaker can pay.

These words have haunted Fer, the Lady of the Summerlands, since she first heard them, but Fer knows that the oath she made to her kin is worth keeping, always. She's pledged to serve her people with honesty and without using the disguise and deception of a glamorie. Though Fer has also made a critical mistake—she's trusted others to fulfill the same vow, one that many are unwilling and unable to keep.

Now an oath has been broken, and the Forsworn, a renegade group of Lords and Ladies, has unleashed the consequences of their betrayal onto the lands. A stillness is creeping into the realm, threatening to destroy them all, and only Fer has the power to fight it. But she can't do it alone. Yet when help arrives, it comes from Rook, a puck-boy whose very nature is to trick her. Can Fer trust the unbound puck to stay true?

Sarah Prineas shines in this mesmerizing tale about one girl's quest to inspire change in the face of great danger and resistance.

Visit Sarah Prineas's website and Facebook page.

--Marshal Zeringue

"The Blooding of Jack Absolute"

New from Sourcebooks: The Blooding of Jack Absolute: A Novel by C.C. Humphreys.

About the book, from the publisher:

Before he can become a man, he must first learn to kill...

London: 1759: Life is easy for Jack Absolute, a young raconteur loved by the ladies and envied by his schoolmates. With a place secured at university and a baronetcy at hand, his future seems bright—if he can just stay out of trouble. But when Jack is caught read-handed with a powerful lord's mistress, his good fortune is destroyed, forcing him to seek a new fate in the dangerous New World during the brutal Frecn and Indian Wars.

There, marooned amid hostile Indians and fierce colonial rivalries, the bawdy schoolboy disappears and a man emerges. Jack's survival depends on winning the friendship and help of the natives, but those come at a high price. In order to become the man they could eventually trust, Jack Absolute must first be blooded. And in order to be blooded, he must do the unfathomable. He must learn to kill.

The gripping prequel in C.C. Humphrey's riveting historical series, The Blooding of Jack Absolute sweeps readers into the ruthless wilds of North America and tracks the stunning transformation of a young dreamer into a daring, larger-than-life hero.

Visit C.C. Humphreys's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Strykers"

New from Macmillan: Strykers by K. M. Ruiz.

About the book, from the publisher:

250 years after nuclear war, the dregs of humanity fight to survive on a ruined Earth while the rich and powerful plan to secretly ascend to another planet. But the enslaved soldiers of the elite rulers are a deadly new kind of human who are desperate for freedom and plan on fighting back against their masters.

Threnody Corwin, a psion with the ability to channel electricity like lightning through anything she touches, is a soldier for the human government. On a suicide mission, Threnody and her team of Strykers are recruited by an unknown enemy: Lucas Serca, one of the most powerful psions alive, who is masquerading as human. Forming an uneasy alliance, the two groups escalate their fight with the ruling government and worldwide chaos ensues. When a new kind of psion power is discovered that could reshape the wasted planet, the renegades must race to save society before it destroys itself, but the cost is high and in the end, there is no such thing as compromise.

In this novel from K.M. Ruiz, there is only survival.

Visit K. M. Ruiz's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"The Vastalimi Gambit"

New from Ace/Penguin: The Vastalimi Gambit by Steve Perry.

About the book, from the publisher:

At the close of the twenty-fourth century, a series of revolutions has caused the galaxy to descend into chaos. With the Galactic Union Army stretched thin, mercenary units have arisen for those who have the need—and the means—to hire them…

Kay, the alien member of the Cutter Force Initiative, has returned to her brutal home world of Vast on a mission of mercy. Before she joined the merc team, she was a great healer. And now her skills are sorely needed. Hundreds of Vastalimi—including her blood-kin—are dying mysteriously.

But is the plague a work of nature? Or is it a bioengineered virus, purposefully unleashed? Kay and Doc Wink will have to find out the hard way.

With the Cutter Force light-years away, the two find the odds against them—and on a planet like Vast, where violence abounds and life is cheap, they may be facing a foe they can’t defeat…

Visit Steve Perry's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Smarter: The New Science of Building Brain Power"

New from Hudson Street Press: Smarter: The New Science of Building Brain Power by Dan Hurley.

About the book, from the publisher:

Can you make yourself, your kids, and your parents smarter?

Expanding upon one of the most-read New York Times Magazine features of 2012, Smarter penetrates the hot new field of intelligence research to reveal what researchers call a revolution in human intellectual abilities. Shattering decades of dogma, scientists began publishing studies in 2008 showing that “fluid intelligence”—the ability to learn, solve novel problems, and get to the heart of things—can be increased through training.

But is it all just hype? With vivid stories of lives transformed, science journalist Dan Hurley delivers practical findings for people of every age and ability. Along the way, he narrates with acidtongued wit his experiences as a human guinea pig, road-testing commercial brain-training programs, learning to play the Renaissance lute, getting physically fit, even undergoing transcranial directcurrent stimulation.

Smarter speaks to the audience that made bestsellers out of Train Your Mind, Change Your Brain and Moonwalking with Einstein.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Bliss"

New from Orbit: Bliss by Hilary Fields.

About the book, from the publisher:

Nothing says "oops" like your naked ass skidding in the salmon mousse...

A year ago, pastry chef Serafina Wilde's seemingly perfect life fell to pieces. So now, when her eccentric Aunt Pauline calls from Santa Fe needing her help, Sera jumps at the chance to start over. Pauline even offers to let her take over the family business, "Pauline's House of Passion," and turn it into a bakery... provided she agrees not to ditch the "back room." Cupcakes and sex toys don't exactly mix but Sera is willing to try, and what she finds in the beautiful City Different is the best life has to offer --- if she has the courage to go for it.

Visit Hilary Fields's website, Facebook page, and Twitter perch.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Invasive Species"

New from Berkley: Invasive Species by Joseph Wallace.

About the book, from the publisher:

There can only be one dominant life form on Earth.

In the remote African wilderness, a rainforest is dying. But something else has come to life: A newly evolved predator that has survived the depredations of mankind, only to emerge from its natural habitat faster, stronger, and deadlier than anything humanity has ever faced.

And it is no longer man.

Visit Joseph Wallace's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"The Isle of Youth"

New from FSG Originals: The Isle of Youth: Stories by Laura van den Berg.

About the book, from the publisher:

Laura van den Berg’s gorgeous new book, The Isle of Youth, explores the lives of women mired in secrecy and deception. From a newlywed caught in an inscrutable marriage, to private eyes working a baffling case in South Florida, to a teenager who assists her magician mother and steals from the audience, the characters in these bewitching stories are at once vulnerable and dangerous, bighearted and ruthless, and they will do what it takes to survive.

Each tale is spun with elegant urgency, and the reader grows attached to the marginalized young women in these stories—women grappling with the choices they’ve made and searching for the clues to unlock their inner worlds. This is the work of a fearless writer whose stories feel both magical and mystical, earning her the title of “sorceress” from her readers. Be prepared to fall under her spell.

Learn about Laura van den Berg's six favorite unconventional mystery novels.

Visit Laura van den Berg's website and blog.

Writers Read: Laura van den Berg (January 2010).

--Marshal Zeringue

"Ashes to Ashes"

New from Katherine Tegen Books: Ashes to Ashes by Melissa Walker.

About the book, from the publisher:

Callie McPhee knows all the classic Charleston ghost stories by heart.

What she doesn't realize is that she's about to become one.

When Callie's life is cut short by a tragic accident, she expects to find nothingness, or maybe some version of heaven. Instead, her spirit travels to the Prism, an ethereal plane populated by the ghosts she thought were fictional. Here she meets a striking and mysterious ghost named Thatcher, who is meant to guide her as she learns to haunt and bring peace to the loved ones she left behind.

With Thatcher at her side, Callie watches in agony while her father, her best friend, and her boyfriend mourn her—and she's not sure she wants to help them let her go; she may be invisible, but she's still here. However, as Callie desperately tries to make contact with the people she left behind, she uncovers a dark secret about the spirit world: The angry souls that always populate ghost stories are real, dangerous, and willing to do anything to stay on Earth, threatening the existence of everyone she ever cared about.

When she fights to save them, Callie will learn that while it may no longer beat, her heart can still love—and break.

Ashes to Ashes is Melissa Walker's sweeping, romantic, and emotionally rich story about the things that torment and tempt us, even from the Great Beyond.

Visit Melissa Walker's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"The Life of Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton"

New from Rowman & Littlefield: The Life of Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton: Extraordinary Perseverance by David Bruce.

About the book, from the publisher:

The Life of Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton: Extraordinary Perseverance is the biography of one of Great Britain’s most prominent social reformer. Best remembered for his role as a successful brewer, an abolitionist, and for his role in ending of British slavery in 1834, Buxton also championed a number of social causes that included ending the Hindu suttee practice, advocating penal reform, promoting Catholic Emancipation, and championing the empowerment of Africa, among others. For nearly a century after his death, Buxton was well-known as an example of a strong, moral, and principled reformer, and was regularly put forth to children throughout the West as an example worth emulating.

Visit the Extraordinary Perseverance website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Control"

New from Dial: control by Lydia Kang.

About the book, from the publisher:

For fans of Uglies comes a spiraling, intense sci fi thriller.

"Control blew me away. The twists and turns and suspense made for a thrilling ride. Zel is as authentic a character as I've read in a very long time. Highly recommended" - James Dashner, New York Times bestselling author of The Maze Runner

Set in 2150 -- in a world of automatic cars, nightclubs with auditory ecstasy drugs, and guys with four arms -- this is about the human genetic "mistakes" that society wants to forget, and the way that outcasts can turn out to be heroes.

When their overprotective father is killed in a terrible accident, Zel and her younger sister, Dylia, are lost in grief. But it's not until strangers appear, using bizarre sensory weapons, that the life they had is truly eviscerated. Zel ends up in a safe house for teens that aren't like any she's ever seen -- teens who, by law, shouldn't even exist. One of them -- an angry tattooed boy haunted by tragedy -- can help Zel reunite with her sister.

Visit Lydia Kang's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Uncharted: Big Data as a Lens on Human Culture"

New from Riverhead: Uncharted: Big Data as a Lens on Human Culture by Erez Aiden and Jean-Baptiste Michel.

About the book, from the publisher:

Our society has gone from writing snippets of information by hand to generating a vast flood of 1s and 0s that record almost every aspect of our lives: who we know, what we do, where we go, what we buy, and who we love. This year, the world will generate 5 zettabytes of data. (That’s a five with twenty-one zeros after it.) Big data is revolutionizing the sciences, transforming the humanities, and renegotiating the boundary between industry and the ivory tower.

What is emerging is a new way of understanding our world, our past, and possibly, our future. In Uncharted, Erez Aiden and Jean-Baptiste Michel tell the story of how they tapped into this sea of information to create a new kind of telescope: a tool that, instead of uncovering the motions of distant stars, charts trends in human history across the centuries. By teaming up with Google, they were able to analyze the text of millions of books. The result was a new field of research and a scientific tool, the Google Ngram Viewer, so groundbreaking that its public release made the front page of The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Boston Globe, and so addictive that Mother Jones called it “the greatest timewaster in the history of the internet.”

Using this scope, Aiden and Michel—and millions of users worldwide—are beginning to see answers to a dizzying array of once intractable questions. How quickly does technology spread? Do we talk less about God today? When did people start “having sex” instead of “making love”? At what age do the most famous people become famous? How fast does grammar change? Which writers had their works most effectively censored by the Nazis? When did the spelling “donut” start replacing the venerable “doughnut”? Can we predict the future of human history? Who is better known—Bill Clinton or the rutabaga?

All over the world, new scopes are popping up, using big data to quantify the human experience at the grandest scales possible. Yet dangers lurk in this ocean of 1s and 0s—threats to privacy and the specter of ubiquitous government surveillance. Aiden and Michel take readers on a voyage through these uncharted waters.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Snakeroot"

New from Philomel: Snakeroot: A Nightshade Novel by Andrea Cremer.

About the book, from the publisher:

The next thrilling novel in the internationally-bestselling Nightshade series!

Fans asked for it, and now they've got it! Andrea Cremer is continuing the story she began in in her internationally bestselling trilogy: Nightshade, Wolfsbane and Bloodrose. In this new installment, Bosque Mar haunts the dreams of both Adne and Logan, trying to escape for the Nether, where Calla, Shay and the other Guardians trapped him in the final battle in the War of All Against All. Will he turn Adne to the dark side? Will Logan reclaim his birthright? And will darkness take over our world? In a novel filled with magic, romance and breakneck action, master storyteller Andrea Cremer's newest installment will not disappoint!

This series is perfect for fans of Lauren Kate, Holly Black, Cassandra Clare, Ally Condie, and Richelle Mead.

Visit Andrea Cremer's website and blog.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Newtown: An American Tragedy"

New from Gallery Books: Newtown: An American Tragedy by Matthew Lysiak.

About the book, from the publisher:

12/14/12

Sandy Hook Elementary School

Newton, Connecticut

we remember the numbers: 20 children and 6 adults, murdered in a place of nurture and trust. We remember the names: teachers like Victoria Soto, who lost her life protecting her students. A shooter named Adam Lanza. And we remember the questions: outraged conjecture instantly monopolized the worldwide response to the tragedy—while the truth went missing.

here is the definitive journalistic account of Newtown, an essential examination of the facts— not only of that horrific day but the perfect storm of mental instability and obsession that preceded it and, in the aftermath of unspeakable heartbreak, the controversy that continues to play out on the national stage. Drawn from previously undisclosed emails, police reports, and in-depth interviews, Newtown: An American Tragedy breaks through a miasma of misinformation with its comprehensive and astonishing portrayal.

This is the vital story that must be told—today—if we are to prevent another American tragedy in the days to come.

--Marshal Zeringue

"We Shall Overcome"

New from Disney-Hyperion: We Shall Overcome: The Story of a Song by Debbie Levy.

About the book, from the publisher:

It only take a few words to create change. It only takes a few people to believe that change is possible. And when those people sing out, they can change the world. “We Shall Overcome” is one of their songs.

This book tells the story of this anthem of the civil rights movement. The story begins with the song’s roots in America’s era of slavery, moves through Emancipation and the Jim Crow period, reaches a crescendo in the civil rights era, and continues to the present day. But the story of “We Shall Overcome” isn’t only about a song that has come to represent the struggle for equality, freedom, peace, and justice around the world. It’s also about how the act of singing and the process of sharing songs are part of what defines us as human beings.

Collage-style art by Vanessa Brantley-Newton pays tribute to the layers upon layers of history, and the voices upon voices who are the story of “We Shall Overcome.”

Learn more about the book and author at Debbie Levy's website and blog.

--Marshal Zeringue

"The Grendel Affair"

New from Ace: The Grendel Affair: A SPI Files Novel by Lisa Shearin.

About the book, from the publisher:

We’re Supernatural Protection & Investigations, known as SPI. Things that go bump in the night, the monsters you thought didn’t exist? We battle them and keep you safe. But some supernatural baddies are just too big to contain, even for us…

When I moved to New York to become a world famous journalist, I never imagined that snagging a job at a seedy tabloid would change my career path from trashy reporter to undercover agent. I’m Makenna Fraser, a Seer for SPI. I can see through any disguise, shield, or spell that a paranormal pest can come up with. I track down creatures and my partner, Ian Byrne, takes them out.

Our cases are generally pretty routine, but a sickle-wielding serial killer has been prowling the city’s subway tunnels. And the murderer’s not human. The fiend in question, a descendant of Grendel—yes, that Grendel—shares his ancestor’s hatred of parties, revelry, and drunkards. And with New Year’s Eve in Times Square only two days away, we need to bag him quickly. Because if we don’t find him—and the organization behind him—by midnight, our secret’s out and everyone’s time is up.

Visit Lisa Shearin’s website, blog, and Twitter perch.

--Marshal Zeringue

"These Broken Stars"

New from Disney-Hyperion: These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner.

About the book, from the publisher:

It's a night like any other on board the Icarus. Then, catastrophe strikes: the massive luxury spaceliner is yanked out of hyperspace and plummets into the nearest planet. Lilac LaRoux and Tarver Merendsen survive. And they seem to be alone.

Lilac is the daughter of the richest man in the universe. Tarver comes from nothing, a young war hero who learned long ago that girls like Lilac are more trouble than they're worth. But with only each other to rely on, Lilac and Tarver must work together, making a tortuous journey across the eerie, deserted terrain to seek help.

Then, against all odds, Lilac and Tarver find a strange blessing in the tragedy that has thrown them into each other's arms. Without the hope of a future together in their own world, they begin to wonder-would they be better off staying here forever?

Everything changes when they uncover the truth behind the chilling whispers that haunt their every step. Lilac and Tarver may find a way off this planet. But they won't be the same people who landed on it.

The first in a sweeping science fiction trilogy, These Broken Stars is a timeless love story about hope and survival in the face of unthinkable odds.

Visit the These Broken Stars website, Amie Kaufman's website, and Meagan Spooner's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Murder and Moonshine"

New from Minotaur/Thomas Dunne Books: Murder and Moonshine: A Mystery by Carol Miller.

About the book, from the publisher:

All small towns have secrets---and plenty of them---as every small-town waitress knows. Daisy is no different. A young, recently separated waitress at H & P’s Diner in sleepy southwestern Virginia, she hears more than her fair share of neighborhood gossip while serving plates of hash and peach cobbler. But when a reclusive old man shows up at the diner one day, only to drop dead a few minutes later, Daisy quickly learns that some secrets are more dangerous to keep than others---especially when there are money and moonshine involved.

The man’s death was suspicious, and no longer sure who she can trust, Daisy turns sleuth while also seeking to protect her sick mother and keeping a handle on Aunt Emily, her goading, trigger-happy landlord. Caught between whiskey and guns, a handsome ATF agent and a moonshine-brewing sweet talker, and a painful past and a dangerous present, Daisy has her work cut out for her. There’s trouble brewing in her small town, and before it passes, many secrets will come to light.

Carol Miller makes a memorable debut in Murder and Moonshine, the first of an intriguing new mystery series.

Visit Carol Miller's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Rosemary and Crime"

New from Minotaur/Thomas Dunne Books: Rosemary and Crime by Gail Oust.

About the book, from the publisher:

Murder comes well-seasoned in this charming mystery featuring a smart and spunky new amateur sleuth, small-town Georgia spice shop owner Piper Prescott

Piper Prescott, a transplanted Yankee living in the South, has got her sass back. She might be down, but don’t count her out. “Change of life?” she asks. Bring it on. Recently divorced, Piper decides to pursue a dream she’s secretly harbored: owning her own business, Spice it Up!, a spice shop in her adopted hometown, Brandywine Creek, Georgia. But Piper’s grand opening goes awry when the local chef who’s agreed to do a cooking demo is found stabbed. Not only did Piper find the body, she handled the murder weapon and doesn’t have a witness to her alibi, making the case look like a slam dunk to brand new police Chief Wyatt McBride. Desperate to uncover the truth—and prove her innocence—Piper enlists the help of her outspoken BFF Reba Mae Johnson to help track down the real culprit. The pair compile a lengthy list of suspects and work to eliminate them using their own creative brand of sleuthing techniques including stakeouts, breaking and entering, and one very unorthodox chocolate pie. When Piper narrowly avoids being a victim of a hit-and-run, she knows she’s getting closer to the truth, but can she catch the killer and clear her name before she becomes the next victim?

A captivating start to a new series featuring an unstoppably fabulous new crime-solving heroine, a colorful cast of small town characters, and more than a pinch of Georgia charm, Rosemary and Crime by Gail Oust is sure to delight fans of Donna Andrews and Jessica Beck.

Visit Gail Oust's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"What We Lost in the Dark"

New from Soho Press: What We Lost in the Dark by Jacquelyn Mitchard.

About the book, from the publisher:

Allie Kim’s fatal allergy to sunlight, XP, still confines her to the night. Now that she’s lost her best friend Juliet to an apparent suicide, the night has never felt darker—even with Rob at her side. Allie knows why Juliet killed herself: to escape the clutches of Garrett Tabor, whom the trio saw committing an unspeakable crime. Garrett is untouchable; The Tabors founded the world-famous XP clinic that keeps Allie and Rob alive and their small Minnesota town on the map.

Allie can’t rest until Garrett is brought to justice. But her obsession jeopardizes everything she holds dear. Not even Parkour can distract her; nothing reminds her more that Juliet is gone. When Rob introduces Allie to the wildly dangerous sport of nighttime deep diving, Allie assumes he’s only trying to derail her investigation… until they uncover the horror terrible secret Garrett Tabor has hidden under Lake Superior.

Visit Jacquelyn Mitchard's website and blog.

--Marshal Zeringue

"The Invisible Code"

New from Bantam: The Invisible Code: A Peculiar Crimes Unit Mystery by Christopher Fowler.

About the book, from the publisher:

London’s craftiest and boldest detectives, Arthur Bryant and John May, are back in this deviously twisting mystery of black magic, madness, and secrets hidden in plain sight.

When a young woman is found dead in the pews of St. Bride’s Church—alone and showing no apparent signs of trauma—Arthur Bryant assumes this case will go to the Peculiar Crimes Unit, an eccentric team tasked with solving London’s most puzzling murders. Yet the city police take over the investigation, and the PCU is given an even more baffling and bewitching assignment.

Called into headquarters by Oskar Kasavian, the head of Home Office security, Bryant and May are shocked to hear that their longtime adversary now desperately needs their help. Oskar’s wife, Sabira, has been acting strangely for weeks—succumbing to violent mood swings, claiming an evil presence is bringing her harm—and Oskar wants the PCU to find out why. And if there’s any duo that can deduce the method behind her madness, it’s the indomitable Bryant and May.

When a second bizarre death reveals a surprising link between the two women’s cases, Bryant and May set off on a trail of clues from the notorious Bedlam hospital to historic Bletchley Park. And as they are drawn into a world of encrypted codes and symbols, concealed rooms and high-society clubs, they must work quickly to catch a killer who lurks even closer than they think.

Witty, suspenseful, and ingeniously plotted, The Invisible Code is Christopher Fowler at the very top of his form.

Learn more about the book and author at Christopher Fowler's website.

The Page 69 Test: The Victoria Vanishes (Peculiar Crimes Unit Series #6).

Writers Read: Christopher Fowler (April 2012).

--Marshal Zeringue

"The Absence of Mercy"

New from William Morrow Paperbacks: The Absence of Mercy: A Novel by John Burley.

About the book, from the publisher:

A doctor in small-town Ohio must weigh the need to catch a killer against his fears for his family's safety in this extraordinary debut suspense novel

Just west of the Ohio River lies the peaceful town of Wintersville. It's a place where neighbors feel like family, the chief of police knows the residents by name, and the sound of children's laughter echoes along the streets.

But when a teenager is discovered brutally murdered in the woods, Dr. Ben Stevenson—the town's medical examiner—becomes entangled in an investigation that will force him to uncover the dark secrets of his seemingly quiet community and ultimately to confront a truth that will haunt him forever.

With its nerve-fraying plot twists and eerie portrait of suburban life, The Absence of Mercy is psychological suspense at its best—a remarkable debut that challenges as much as it thrills.

Visit John Burley's website, Facebook page, and Twitter perch.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Murder, She Barked"

New from Berkley: Murder, She Barked: A Paws & Claws Mystery by Krista Davis.

About the book, from the publisher:

The Sugar Maple Inn in Wagtail, Virginia, is the country's premiere vacation hot spot for pet owners who can’t bear to leave their furry friends behind. But this tourist town smells trouble when a killer goes on the prowl....

Holly Miller's life has gone to the dogs. She has no job, her boyfriend's former flame is sniffing around, and a scruffy but loveable Jack Russell Terrier is scattering crumbs all over her borrowed car. Just when she thought things couldn't get worse, a troubling phone call about her grandmother sends her rushing home to the family inn on Wagtail Mountain.

The staff—and a frisky Calico kitten named Twinkletoes—adopts Holly and her new dog on arrival. But someone in this friendly town is bad to the bone. One of the employees at the inn has been killed in a hit-and-run accident—which is looking anything but accidental. Now Holly and her furry companions will have to nose out the murderer before someone else gets muzzled.

Visit Krista Davis's website and follow her on Facebook.

Read--Coffee with a canine: Krista Davis & Han, Buttercup, and Queenie (July 2009).

--Marshal Zeringue

"Cy in Chains"

New from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt: Cy in Chains by David L. Dudley.

About the book, from the publisher:

Cy Williams, thirteen, has always known that he and the other black folks on Strong's plantation have to obey white men, no question. Sure, he's free, as black people have been since his grandfather's day, but in rural Georgia, that means they're free to be whipped, abused, even killed. Almost four years later, Cy yearns for that freedom, such as it was. Now he's a chain gang laborer, forced to do backbreaking work, penned in and shackled like an animal, brutalized, beaten, and humiliated by the boss of the camp and his hired overseers. For Cy and the boys he's chained to, there's no way out, no way back.

And then hope begins to grow in him, along with strength and courage he didn't know he had. Cy is sure that a chance at freedom is worth any risk, any sacrifice. This powerful, moving story opens a window on a painful chapter in the history of race relations.

Visit David L. Dudley's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Renewable"

New from St. Martin's Press: Renewable: The World-Changing Power of Alternative Energy by Jeremy Shere.

About the book, from the publisher:

Where does the energy we use come from? It’s absolutely vital to every single thing we do every day, but for most people, it is utterly invisible. Flick a switch and the lights go on. It might as well be magic.

Science writer Jeremy Shere shows us in Renewable: The World-Changing Power of Alternative Energy that energy is anything but magical. Producing it in fossil fuel form is a dirty, expensive—but also hugely profitable— enterprise, with enormous but largely hidden costs to the entire planet. The cold, hard fact is that at some point we will have wrung the planet dry of easily accessible sources of fossil fuel. And when that time comes, humankind will have no choice but to turn—or, more accurately, return—to other, cleaner, renewable energy sources. What will those sources be? How far have we come to realizing the technologies that will make these sources available?

To find the answers, Shere began his journey with a tour of a traditional coal-fueled power plant in his home state of Indiana. He then continued on, traveling from coast to coast as he spoke to scientists, scholars and innovators. He immersed himself in the green energy world: visiting a solar farm at Denver’s airport, attending the Wind Power Expo and a wind farm tour in Texas, investigating turbines deep in New York City’s East River, and much more.

Arranged in five parts—Green Gas, Sun, Wind, Earth, and Water—Renewable tells the stories of the most interesting and promising types of renewable energy: namely, biofuel, solar, wind, geothermal, and hydropower. But unlike many books about alternative energy, Renewable is not obsessed with megawatts and tips for building home solar panels. Instead, Shere digs into the rich, surprisingly long histories of these technologies, bringing to life the pioneering scientists, inventors, and visionaries who blazed the way for solar, wind, hydro, and other forms of renewable power, and unearthing the curious involvement of great thinkers like Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, and Nicola Tesla.

We are at an important crossroads in the history of renewable technologies. The possibilities are endless and enticing, and it has become increasingly clear that renewable energy is the way of the future. In Renewable, Jeremy Shere’s natural curiosity and serious research come together in an entertaining and informative guide to where renewable energy has been, where it is today, and where it’s heading.

Visit Jeremy Shere's Twitter perch.

--Marshal Zeringue