‘The House Across the Lake’ is Riley Sager’s new psychological/supernatural thriller. Photo: amazon
Riley Sager is The New York Times bestselling author of six novels, most recently “Home Before Dark” and “Survive the Night.” His first novel, “Final Girls,” has been published in 30 countries and won the ITW Thriller Award for Best Hardcover Novel. His latest book is “The House Across the Lake” was named a most anticipated summer book by USA Today, People, E! News, Cosmopolitan, PureWow, CNN.com, CrimeReads, POPSUGAR, The Nerd Daily, BookTrib, Mystery Writers of America, Bookish, and Distractify. (amazon, 2022)
“The House Across the Lake” – Casey Fletcher, a recently widowed actress trying to escape a streak of bad press, has retreated to the peace and quiet of her family’s lake house in Vermont. Armed with a pair of binoculars and several bottles of bourbon, she passes the time watching Tom and Katherine Royce, the glamorous couple living in the house across the lake. They make for good viewing—a tech innovator, Tom is powerful; and a former model, Katherine is gorgeous.
One day on the lake, Casey saves Katherine from drowning, and the two strike up a budding friendship. But the more they get to know each other—and the longer Casey watches—it becomes clear that Katherine and Tom’s marriage is not as perfect as it appears. When Katherine suddenly vanishes, Casey immediately suspects Tom of foul play. What she does not realize is that there is more to the story than meets the eye—and that shocking secrets can lurk beneath the most placid of surfaces.
Packed with sharp characters, psychological suspense, and gasp-worthy plot twists, Riley Sager’s “The House Across the Lake” is the ultimate escapist read . . . no lake house required.
“The Personal Librarian” by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray. Photo: amazon
A new month means new books on the horizon. These are some notable new releases for the month of June in my favorite categories: Historical Fiction, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Mystery and Thriller, and History and Biography. If I could pick just one this month, it would be “The Personal Librarian.” (amazon, Goodreads, 2021)
The remarkable story of J. P. Morgan’s personal librarian, Belle da Costa Greene, the Black American woman who was forced to hide her true identity and pass as white to leave a lasting legacy that enriched our nation, from The New York Times bestselling author Marie Benedict and acclaimed author Victoria Christopher Murray. “The Personal Librarian” tells the story of an extraordinary woman, famous for her intellect, style, and wit, and shares the lengths she must go to—for the protection of her family and her legacy—to preserve her carefully crafted white identity in the racist world in which she lives.
Fantasy: “The Hidden Palace: A Novel of the Golem and the Jinni” Book 2 of 2 by Helene Wecker Release date: June 8, 2021
This enthralling historical epic is set in New York City and the Middle East in the years leading to World War I and is the long-awaited follow-up to the acclaimed bestseller “The Golem and the Jinni.” Helene Wecker revisits her beloved characters Chava and Ahmad as they confront unexpected new challenges in a rapidly changing human world. Spanning the tumultuous years from the turn of the twentieth century to the beginning of World War I, “The Hidden Palace” follows these lives and others as they collide and interleave. Can Chava and Ahmad find their places in the human world while remaining true to each other? Or will their opposing natures and desires eventually tear them apart—especially once they encounter, thrillingly, other beings like themselves?
Science Fiction: “The Ninth Metal” (The Comet Cycle) by Benjamin Percy Release date: June 1, 2021
It began with a comet. At first, people gazed in wonder at the radiant tear in the sky. A year later, the celestial marvel became a planetary crisis when Earth spun through the comet’s debris field and the sky rained fire. The town of Northfall, Minnesota will never be the same. Meteors cratered hardwood forests and annihilated homes, and among the wreckage a new metal was discovered. This “omni metal” has properties that make it world-changing as an energy source and a weapon. In this gut-punch of a novel, the first in his Comet Cycle, Ben Percy lays bare how a modern-day goldrush has turned the middle of nowhere into the center of everything, and how one family—the Frontiers—hopes to control it all.
Mystery and Thriller: “Survive the Night: A Novel” by Riley Sager Release date: June 29, 2021
It is November 1991. Nirvana is in the tape deck, George H. W. Bush is in the White House, and movie-obsessed college student Charlie Jordan is in a car with a man who might be a serial killer. Charlie has nowhere to run and no way to call for help. Trapped in a terrifying game of cat and mouse played out on pitch-black roads and in neon-lit parking lots, Charlie knows the only way to win is to survive the night.
History and Biography: “Wake: The Hidden History of Women-Led Slave Revolts” by Rebecca Hall Release date: June 1, 2021
Part graphic novel, part memoir, “Wake” is an imaginative tour-de-force that tells the story of women-led slave revolts and chronicles scholar Rebecca Hall’s efforts to uncover the truth about these women warriors who, until now, have been left out of the historical record. Wake tells the story of Dr. Rebecca Hall, a historian, granddaughter of slaves, and a woman haunted by the legacy of slavery. The accepted history of slave revolts has always told her that enslaved women took a back seat. But Rebecca decides to look deeper, and her journey takes her through old court records, slave ship captain’s logs, crumbling correspondence, and even the forensic evidence from the bones of enslaved women from the “negro burying ground” uncovered in Manhattan. She finds women warriors everywhere.
Andy Weir’s ‘Project Hail Mary’ is one of Goodreads’ Most Anticipated Books of 2021. It will be released on May 4. Photo: amazon
The new year brings exciting new titles for readers of all genres. These are the highlights of Goodreads’ The Most Anticipated Books of 2021. The full list is available online.
Fiction: “The Paris Library” by Janet Skeslien Charles – release date: February 9 In Paris, 1939, young Odile Souchet is enjoying her dream job at the American Library in Paris. But when the Nazis roll in, things get real dark, real fast. Odile and her fellow librarians join the Resistance. Forty-some years later, a lonely teenager in Montana befriends her elderly neighbor, who has a story to tell
Mystery & Thriller:“Survive the Night” by Riley Sager – release date: July 6 The new thriller from pseudonymous superstar Riley Sager (Final Girls), “Survive the Night” is set in the early 1990s, back before smartphones could resolve plot points instantly. College student Charlie Jordan is sharing a ride back to Ohio with a guy who may or may not be a serial killer. Calling for help would require a pay phone. Running away would require a cruising speed less than 55 mph.
Fantasy and Science Fiction:“Project Hail Mary” by Andy Weir – release date: May 4 Andy Weir, author of “The Martian,” returns to space with the story of a last-ditch, fat-chance effort to save Earth from an extinction-level event. Astronaut Ryland Grace is on his own, millions of miles from home, having just awoken from a long cryogenic sleep. Using a patchwork spaceship, two corpses, and his very fuzzy memory, he is going to have to improvise.
Nonfiction: “The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race” by Walter Isaacson – release date: Mary 9 Biochemist Jennifer Doudna and her collaborators pioneered the world-changing genetic engineering technology known as CRISPR, which opens an entirely new universe of medical miracles and serious ethical questions. Biographer Walter Isaacson, author of previous tomes on Leonardo da Vinci, Albert Einstein, and Steve Jobs, turns his gaze to the world of life science and 21st-century genetics.
Young Adult:“Rule of Wolves” by Leigh Bardugo – release date: March 30 From the celebrated author of Ninth House, winner of a 2019 Goodreads Choice Award, “Rule of Wolves” returns readers to the land of Fjerda, where a king, a general, and a spy must work together to forge a new future. Bonus trivia: Several of author Leigh Bardugo’s previous works have already been optioned for film and TV.
Romance:“Act Your Age, Eve Brown” by Talia Hibbert – release date: March 9 Fans of Talia Hibbert’s series The Brown Sisters will be happy to hear a new story is coming, this one dedicated to Eve—invariably described as the flightiest of the sisters. The good news: Eve has found a guy. The bad news: She just hit him with her car. The weird news: He is now her boss.
SA Examiner 