Stephen's Picks
Stephen's parents used to put books in his crib to keep him quiet when he woke up early in the morning, thus starting him on a lifetime of loving literature. At home, he enjoys reading mysteries and poetry, with occasional forays into horror and fantasy. A displaced Vermonter, he has lived in southwest Michigan since the mid-'90s.
The atmosphere is always fraught on the set of the reality TV show Goal Diggers—after all, that’s what makes it compelling viewing—but when one of the contestants turns up murdered, the tension ratchets up to a whole other level. Lots of twists and turns and strong characters make for a satisfying mystery.
A Nazi war criminal sneaks into Kansas in the 1950s, eventually setting himself up as a respected and powerful member of the community while still continuing to indulge his old proclivities. When a Nazi hunter shows up looking for him, the situation quickly escalates to murder and mayhem. An excellent contemporary thriller from Grecian, who was previously known for his historical Scotland Yard mysteries.
A girl whose touch can kill or resurrect. A house on the edge of a haunted forest. Mysterious disappearances. Handsome heroes and scheming villains. What Should Be Wild reads like a classic fairy tale with unique modern twists. A stunning debut novel.
Five women on a corporate team-building exercise hike off into the Australian bush; only four come out. Federal Agent Aaron Falk becomes involved because the missing woman is a whistle-blower in case of corporate money laundering. Another excellent mystery from Harper, whose debut, The Dry, also featured Falk.
Twenty years ago, Aaron Falk was driven out of town under suspicion of having killed a girl his age. Now, his best friend—and alibi—Luke Hadler is dead, apparently at his own hand and after killing his family. Aaron returns home and finds himself swept up in the case, but not everyone in town is happy to see him. And small towns have a way of keeping secrets. An outstanding debut mystery.
Taking as a starting point a real murder in 1920s England, and using the Mitford family—famous (and infamous) aristocrats and public figures—Fellowes crafts a satisfying mystery. Fans of Agatha Christie and Downton Abbey will enjoy this one.
In the mid-80’s, Eddie and his friends made a game of communicating with little chalk drawings, until a set of chalk figures led them to a dismembered body. Now, thirty years later, the past is intruding on Eddie’s comfortable life. Old mysteries will be revisited and old secrets will be revealed before it all ends. A gripping thriller with truly startling twists and turns.
Anna is agoraphobic, spending her days communicating online with fellow sufferers, watching old movies, spying on her neighbors, and mixing psychiatric medications and Merlot. When she sees one of her neighbors being murdered, she has trouble convincing anyone of the fact, and she finds herself in middle of a ever deeper mystery. Fans of The Girl on the Train will definitely enjoy this gripping novel.
Nate McHale returns home to attend the funeral of his high school girlfriend, who vanished before graduation and whose body has reappeared after fourteen years. Nate and his friends find themselves on the receiving end of progressively more serious and damaging pranks, just like the pranks they carried out as teens. The past is coming back to haunt the present, and old wounds will be reopened. A very satisfying, atmospheric thriller.
(PB releases May 1) Kate, Aubrey, and Jenny were roommates and friends in college, sticking together through thick and thin. Twenty years later, one of them is dead, and the police are convinced her husband is responsible. But secrets abound, the past will not remain hidden, and the reader is forced to ask whether it is always the husband. A fine debut mystery.
(PB releases May 8) Marzano-Lesnevich has written an intriguing combination of a true crime story and a memoir. Startled by her reaction to a murder case in Louisiana, she starts to examine the secrets of her own childhood while simultaneously trying to learn as much as she can about the murderer and his history. A fascinating read.
(PB releases April17) Life begins to imitate art as a prestigious arts college, which is not good, because the theater students are putting on a performance of Julius Caesar. An outstanding debut novel, filled with suspense and mystery, and showing the author’s command of the works of William Shakespeare.
The Lincoln of the title is Willie, Abraham Lincoln’s young son who died shortly after the civil war started. The Bardo, in Tibetan Buddhism, is the state where souls dwell between this world and whatever comes after. From a graveyard full of eccentric ghosts to the corridors of the White House in mourning, Saunders’s first novel displays the inventiveness familiar from his short stories while spinning an astounding tale of life, death, love, and loss. Simply brilliant.
The true story of Mary Grace Humiston, who started out as one of the few female lawyers in the United States, made a name for herself as an activist on behalf of immigrants and workers, and eventually found fame in a nationally-reported case of a missing New York City girl. Humiston is a fascinating but essentially forgotten person, and Ricca does her justice in this exciting biography.
What seems on the surface an ordinary love triangle—husband, wife, and other woman—hides strange and deadly secrets. An intriguing paranormal romantic thriller with a truly twisted ending.
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THE GREAT AMERICAN READ is an eight-part series on PBS that explores and celebrates the power of reading, told through the prism of America’s 100 best-loved novels (as chosen in a national survey). It investigates how and why writers create their fictional worlds, how we as readers are affected by these stories, and what these 100 different books have to say about our diverse nation and our shared human experience. There will be a nationwide vote to choose America's most beloved book. Find the 100 book selections here and read and place your vote by clicking on image to the left!