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Ahern, Cecelia, The gift.

In this modern-day fable, workaholic executive Lou Steffen shows an uncharacteristic burst of generosity towards Gabe, a homeless man who always seems to be in two places at once. With Lou’s personal and professional fates at important crossroads and Christmas looming, Gabe resorts to some unorthodox methods to show his stubborn patron what truly matters and how precious the gift of time is. But can Gabe help Lou fix what’s broken before it’s too late?

Balmaseda, Liz, Sweet Mary. [SUSPENSE]

Drugs in Florida

Berry, Steve, The Paris vendetta. [SUSPENSE]

Former Justice Department operative Cotton Malone isn’t looking for trouble when it comes knocking at his Copenhagen bookshop. But narrowly
surviving a ferocious firefight convinces him to follow his unexpected new ally–an American Secret Service agent–and help him stop the Paris Club, a cabal of multimillionaires bent on manipulating the global economy. Only by matching wits with a terrorist-for-hire, foiling a catastrophic attack, and plunging into a desperate hunt for the legendary lost treasure of Napoleon Bonaparte can Malone hope to avert international financial anarchy.

The best American short stories 2009.

Edited by critically acclaimed, best-selling author Alice Sebold, the stories in this year’s collection serve as a provacative literary “antenna for what is going on in the world” (“Chicago Tribune).” The collection boasts great variety from “famous to first-timers, sifted from major magazines and little reviews, grand and little worlds” (St. Louis Post-Dispatch),” ensuring yet another rewarding, eduring edition of the oldest and best-selling Best American.

Bobis, Merlinda C., The solemn lantern maker.

Philippines

Brokaw, Charles. The Atlantis code. [SUSPENSE]

When the ancient ruins of Atlantis are discovered along the Spanish coast, linguist and archaeologist Thomas Lourds joins a violent competition to be the first of its explorers, an effort marked by a series of puzzles that must be solved in order to gain entry into the lost civilization.

Brown, Sandra, Rainwater. [HISTORICAL]

In a time of drought and economic depression in 1934, Ella Barron runs her boardinghouse in Texas while caring for her son, Solly, and responds to the calm influence of one of her boarders, David Rainwater, while facing the tension and uncertainty around her.

Bruen, Ken. London Boulevard. [MYSTERY]

An ex-convict hoping to steer clear of the lowlife from his past is forced to act when his disturbed sister is threatened.

Campbell, Bonnie Jo, American salvage: stories.

2009 National Book Award finalist

Chiaverini, Jennifer. A quilter’s holiday.

For the Elm Creek Quilters, the day after Thanksgiving marks the start of the quilting season, a time to gather at Elm Creek Manor and spend the day stitching holiday gifts for loved ones. On this quilter’s holiday, Master Quilter Sylvia Bergstrom has invited her friends to continue an old family tradition of sewing quilt blocks representing their thankfulness and gratitude. As each quilter explains the significance of her carefully chosen block, stories of love and longing for family and friends emerge.

Coonts, Stephen. Disciple. [SUSPENSE]

Tommy Carmellini and Jake Grafton are on the case of Iran & nuclear weapons.

Cornwell, Patricia D., The Scarpetta factor. [SUSPENSE]

Kay Scarpetta becomes embroiled in a surreal plot that includes a famous actor accused of an unthinkable sex crime and the disappearance of a beautiful millionairess with whom her niece Lucy seems to have shared a secret past. In the seventeenth installment of the Kay Scarpetta series, the police are stumped by a particularly baffling crime. After exhausting all leads, authorities implore the help of Scarpetta, now a CNN senior forensic analyst. Presented with the opportunity to have her own show, she must choose between taking the case and following her television career.

Crichton, Michael, Pirate latitudes. [SUSPENSE]

The Caribbean, 1665. Pirate captain Charles Hunter, with backing from a powerful ally, assembles a crew of ruffians to take the Spanish galleon, “El Trinidad,” guarded by the bloodthirsty Cazalla, a favorite commander of the Spanish king himself.

Cumming, Charles, Typhoon. [SUSPENSE]

Espionage

Cussler, Clive & Justin Scott. The wrecker. [SUSPENSE]

20th c. Western adventure

De Bernieres, Louis. A partisan’s daughter.

London love story.

Fai, Pai Kit, The concubine’s daughter.

Li-Xia, the daughter of a young concubine to an old silk farmer in rural China, escapes her destiny of becoming a concubine by outwitting her father’s orders to bind her feet and running away with an English sea captain, and takes her first steps towards fulfilling her mother’s dream of becoming a scholar.

Grafton, Sue. U is for undertow. [MYSTERY]
After a recent reference to a kidnapping triggers a flood of memories, unemployed college dropout Michael Sutton hires Kinsey Millhone to locate a four-year-old girl’s remains and find the men who killed her.

Graham, Heather. Home in time for Christmas. [ROMANCE]

Time-travel for the holidays.

Grisham, John. Ford County: stories.

John Grisham returns to Ford County, Mississippi, the setting of his immensely popular first novel, A Time to Kill, with this wholly surprising collection of stories.

Grodstein, Lauren. A friend of the family.

After his best friend’s daughter, Laura, sets her sights on his son, Alec, Pete Dizinoff sees his plans for a perfect son not just unraveling but being destroyed completely and sets out to derail the romance.

Harrison, Cora. The sting of justice: a mystery of medieval Ireland.

Medieval Ireland series; bk. 3.

Hart, Ellen. The mirror and the mask. [MYSTERY]

Taking a seemingly easy job in her first case as a fledgling private investigator, Jane Lawless attempts to track down the missing father of client Annie Andrews, a successful effort with unanticipated consequences.

Henry, Sue, The end of the road: a Maxie and Stretch mystery.

Maxie McNabb and her miniature dachshund, Stretch, investigate a murder that shatters the quiet in their hometown of Homer, Alaska.

Hinton, J. Lynne. Christmas cake.

Female friendship in NC.

Howard, Linda, Ice. [SUSPENSE]

As a brewing ice storm approaches, and despite the icy conditions that have always existed between him and Lolly Helton, combat veteran Gabriel McQueen makes the long haul to the middle of nowhere to find out whether she is safe and sound. Spotting strangers in Lolly’s home–one of them packing a weapon—Gabriel rescues Lolly from her captors … but when the escape is discovered, the heat–and the hunt–are on.

Jacobs, Kate, Knit the season.

Dakota Walker spends the Christmas holidays with her Gran in Scotland– accompanied by her father, her grandparents, and her mother’s best friend, Catherine. Join them as they share a trove of happy memories about Christmases past with Dakota’s mom, Georgia Walker–from Georgia’s childhood to her blissful time as a doting new mom.

James, Steven, The knight. [SUSPENSE]

Bowers files; 3.

Jance, Judith A. Trial by fire. [SUSPENSE]

Taking a media relations position with the Yavapai County Police Department, former television journalist Ali Reynolds investigates a subdivision fire and the identity of an injured amnesiac woman, a case that unleashes a family drama and a remorseless killer.

Kasischke, Laura, In a perfect world.

Stepmothers

Keillor, Garrison. A Christmas blizzard.

A wealthy and depressed man bound for Christmas in Hawaii is abruptly summoned home to North Dakota. He arrives just in time to be trapped there by a blizzard. During his stay, he reaches an epiphany worthy of the season and resolves to simplify his life.

Kellerman, Jonathan. Evidence: an Alex Delaware novel. [MYSTERY]

Veteran homicide cop Milo Sturgis and psychologist Alex Delaware expose the shadowy side of glittering Los Angeles as they investigate the gruesome death of a young couple-murdered in flagrante–the man identified as a notorious womanizer and eco-friendly architect, the woman unidentified–in this unforgettable tale spiced with eco-terrorism, arson, blackmail, conspiracy, and a vendetta that runs deep.

King, Stephen, Under the dome. [SUSPENSE]

The small town of Chester’s Mill, Maine, is faced with a big dilemma when it is mysteriously sealed off by an invisible and completely impenetrable force field. With cars and airplanes exploding on contact, the force field has completely isolated the townspeople from the outside world. Now, Iraq war vet Dale Barbara and a group of the town’s more sensible citizens must overcome the tyrannical rule of Big Jim Rennie, a politician bent on controlling everything within the Dome.

Kingsolver, Barbara. The lacuna.

This novel tells the story of Harrison William Shepherd, a man caught between two worlds: Mexico and the United States in the 1930s, ’40s, and ’50s, and whose search for identity takes readers to the heart of the twentieth century’s most tumultuous events. Growing up in 1930′s Mexico as an American, he quickly learns that his mother is more concerned with social aspirations than his well-being. Due to a tumultuous stint at a Virginia military school and the fact that his mother has a knack for selecting men who fall on the losing side of Mexico’s political battles, Harrison takes a withdrawn approach to adulthood. After his mother’s repute places him in danger, Harrison ventures back to America, which is in the midst of World War II.

Koontz, Dean R., Breathless. [SUSPENSE]

When Colorado carpenter Gary Adams spots two mysterious creatures in the woods near his house, he calls on his friend, veterinarian Cammy Rivers for advice. But like Gary, Cammy has never seen an animal resembling this beautiful species. But when the Department of Homeland Security puts a call out for Gary and Cammy because of these animals, the two risk everything to protect the innocent creatures.

Lamb, Wally. Wishin’ and hopin’: a Christmas story.

“Set in the fictional town of Three Rivers, Connecticut, the story of fifth grader Felix Funicello in the months leading up to Christmas 1964.”–Provided by publisher.

Maguire, Gregory. Matchless: a Christmas story an illumination of Hans Christian Andersen’s classic “The Little Match Girl”.

Entwines the classic fairy tale of the little match girl with a story of Frederik, whose mother is seamstress to the queen and who spends many evenings crafting a village in the attic of their small, cold home.

Medlicott, Joan A., A blue and gray Christmas.

After being moved by the letters of two Civil War soldiers–one Union and the other Confederate–Grace, Hannah, and Amelia track down the soldiers’ descendants and invite them to a Christmas reunion in Covington, where the letters will serve as holiday gifts.

Michaels, Fern. Deadly deals. [SUSPENSE]

Sisterhood Series; bk.16

Miller, Linda Lael. A Creed country Christmas. [ROMANCE]

In 1910, schoolteacher Juliana Mitchell, who runs an Indian school in the untamed Montana wilderness, is uncertain of how she and the four students in her care will survive now that the school is being closed. But when she meets widowed rancher Lincoln Creed, who is searching for a governess for his young daughter, she finds a warm and welcoming place for herself and her charges to spend Christmas–as well as the potential for a lifetime of happiness.

Mortimer, John, A Rumpole Christmas.

Five holiday tales feature the curmudgeon barrister in “Rumpole and Father Christmas,” “Rumpole’s Slimmed Down Christmas,” “Rumpole and the Boy,” “Rumpole and the Old Familiar Faces,” and “Rumpole and the Christmas Break.”

Mueenuddin, Daniyal. In other rooms, other wonders.

Pakistan short stories; 2009 National Book Award Finalist

Munro, Alice. Too much happiness: stories.

Nine new short works include the stories of a grieving mother who is aided by a surprising source, a woman’s response to a humiliating seduction, and a nineteenth-century Russian émigré’s winter journey to the Riviera.

Olson, John B., Powers.

Supernatural Christian tale set in New Orleans

Patterson, James, I, Alex Cross. [SUSPENSE]

Detective Alex Cross is pulled out of a family celebration and given the awful news that a beloved relative has been found brutally murdered. Alex vows to hunt down the killer, and soon learns that she was mixed up in one of Washington’s wildest scenes. And she was not this killer’s only victim. Determined to catch the culprit, Cross joins forces with his lover, Detective Brianna Stone, and persues the case all the way to the seediest section’s of Washington’s underbelly. This is the fifteenth installment of the acclaimed Alex Cross series.

Poyer, David. The crisis: a Dan Lenson novel. [SUSPENSE]

Assigned to improve an undisciplined patrol craft squadron in the Red Sea, Naval Commander Dan Lenson and his Tactical Analysis Group find themselves on a humanitarian mission in famine-stricken northern Africa, where a young jihadist coordinates a violent insurgency.

Robb, J. D., Kindred in death. [MYSTERY]

Lieutenant Eve Dallas and her team investigate the brutal murder of the sixteen-year-old daughter of a newly promoted captain of the NYPSD.

Rutherfurd, Edward. New York. [HISTORICAL]

The intertwining fates of characters rich and poor, black and white, native born and immigrant, brings to life the momentous events that shaped New York City and America: the Revolutionary War, the emergence of the city as a great trading and financial center, the excesses of the Gilded Age, the explosion of immigration in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the trials of World War II, the near-demise of New York in the 1970s and its roaring rebirth in the ’90s, and the attacks on the World Trade Center.

Shaara, Jeff, No less than victory: a novel of World War II. [HISTORICAL]

After the success of the Normandy invasion, the Allied commanders are buoyantly confident that the war in Europe will be over in a matter of weeks, that Hitler and his battered army has no other option than surrender. But despite the advice of his best military minds, Hitler will hear no talk of defeat. In mid-December 1944, the Germans launch a desperate and ruthless counteroffensive in the Ardennes forest. As American commanders respond to the stunning challenge, the German spear is finally blunted.

Vachss, Andrew H. Haiku. [SUSPENSE]

Late one night, Michael–an addicted gambler who has lost everything, including himself–spots a woman in a white Rolls-Royce throwing something into the river. Convinced that the woman is a perfect blackmail target, he attempts to recruit a band of homeless outcasts to search for her. But news that a building is slated for demolition turns this halfhearted effort into a serious mission to find the ultimate problem-solver: money, and with it a new home for a precious collection of hardboiled paperbacks.

Wambaugh, Joseph. Hollywood moon.

There is a saying at Hollywood station that the full moon brings out the beast, rather than the best, in the precinct’s citizens. One moonlit night, LAPD veteran Dana Vaughn and “Hollywood” Nate Weiss, a struggling actor turned cop, get a call about a young man who’s been attacking women. Meanwhile, two surfer cops known as Flotsam and Jetsam keep bumping into an odd, suspicious duo, a smooth talking player in dreadlocks and a crazy eyed, tattooed biker. No one suspects that all three dubious characters might be involved in something bigger, more high tech, and much more illegal. After a dizzying series of twists, turns, and chases, the cops will find they’ve stumbled upon a complex web of crime where even the criminals can’t be sure who’s conning whom. The author gets inside the hearts and minds of the cops whose jobs have them constantly on the brink of danger. By turns heart wrenching, exhilarating, and laugh out loud funny, this novel is his most thrilling and deeply affecting ride yet through the singular streets of Los Angeles.

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