Recreation

New Titles Fiction February 2013 (arrived in January)

Adventure

Strikeforce lightning, Mark Aitken.
Former U.S. Special Forces hero Gerry Galen returns to retrieve his former sergeant from Jordanian rebels.
Arctic fire, Stephen Frey.
Troy Jensen, champion sailor, has an accidental death that doesn’t fool his brother who heads to Alaska to uncover the truth.
Empire and honor, W.E.B. Griffin and William E. Butterworth IV.
October 1945. Germans and Japanese have surrendered but a secret deal with the head of German Intelligence’s Soviet section is going to cause trouble and valuable secrets of the atomic bomb programme are at risk.
The third bullet, Stephen Hunter.
Bob Lee Swagger, master sniper, becomes interested in exploring JFK’s assassination, asking questions few have asked before.
Night strike, Chris Ryan.
The second book in the Chris Ryan Extreme series. Former SAS hero John Bald is a man at war with himself and fighting a losing battle with the bottle. But then he is reluctantly thrust back into battle.
Enemy of mine, Brad Taylor.
When the Taskforce team learns of a plot against an American envoy who is overseeing a treaty between Israel and Palestine, operator Pike Logan and his partner, Jennifer Cahill, follow an elusive trail through the Middle East that reveals a destructive secret.

American Fiction

The Middlesteins, Jami Attenberg.
Two siblings with very different personalities attempt to take control of their mother’s food obsession and massive weight gain to save her life after their father walks out and leaves her reeling in the Chicago suburbs.
Invisible, Carla Buckley.
Two sisters and a secret that compells one sister to leave home and return years later to find the other sister ill and their town protecting secrets.
Y : a novel, Marjorie Celona.
A foster child who has been shuffled through the system after being abandoned at the YMCA as a baby wonders about her birth family and the reasons she was given up, questions that lead to the tragic story of her flawed and desperate mother.
Mrs Bridge, Evan S. Connell
Mrs Bridge, an unremarkable and conservative housewife in Kansas City, has three children and a kindly lawyer husband. In a series of comic, telling vignettes, the author illuminates the narrow morality, confusion, futility and even terror at the heart of a life of plenty. Reprint of American classic.
Be careful what you wish for, Gemma Crisp.
When Nina Morey gets her perfectly pedicured toe on the first rung of the highly-competitive magazine publishing ladder, she can’t believe her luck. Then she lands the hottest man in town AND her best friend relocates from the other side of the world to help her paint the town neon pink. Nina’s life has suddenly turned from dull to dream come true.
The lesson, Suzanne Woods Fisher.
Third in the “Stoney Ridge Seasons” series.
Triburbia, Karl Taro Greenfeld.
With an unflinching eye, Triburbia explores Tribeca, Manhattan, where an artists’ community has been overrun by those made staggeringly wealthy by the world of finance.
Riding lessons, Sara Gruen.
Young woman’s equestrian career destroyed and sends her home to her dying father’s farm where she meets a trainer with a magic touch.
Finding Mercy, Karen Harper.
Quiet, cautious Ella Lantz has spent her entire life in the close-knit Amish community of the Home Valley. Tending her lavender fields, she finds calm and serenity in purple blooms, heavenly scents and a simple life. But the sudden arrival of a stranger visitor to her parents’ home heralds a host of new complications.
The river swimmer : novellas, Jim Harrison.
Two novellas provide insight into the human condition as a sixty-year-old art history academic embarks on an unexpected journey of discovery and a young farm boy is drawn to the water of Lake Michigan as an escape.
Wool, Hugh Howey.
There’s been a lot of advanced hype about this dystopian novel in the vein of “The passage” and “Hunger games”. It’s set in a ruined world where survivors live in an underground silo.
The bridge, Karen Kingsbury.
A couple who didn’t get together five years ago meet again in this faith based tale of adversity and miracles.
I, Anna, Elsa Lewin.
One night, Anna blacks out in a stranger’s apartment. This is only the beginning of her nightmare. An unusual psychological thriller recently filmed with Charlotte Rampling and Gabriel Byrne.
The one I left behind, Jennifer McMahon.
Reggie, a successful architect who left her hometown and the horrific memories of a long ago summer behind, gets a call revealing that her mother has been found alive a call that forces Reggie to confront the ghosts of her past and find the serial killer known as Neptune before he kills again.
Margaret from Maine, Joseph Monninger.
A woman whose husband is injured in World War II goes to Washington escoted by a volunteer who she falls for.
Black dahlia & white rose, Joyce Carol Oates.
A collection of 11 previously uncollected stories, including a title piece that tracks the friendship between Elizabeth Short, famously known as the Black Dahlia, the victim of a markedly brutal murder in 1940s Los Angeles that remains unsolved, and her roommate, Norma Jeane Baker who became Marilyn Monroe.
Tenth of December : stories, George Saunders.
A collection of stories which includes “Home”, a wryly whimsical account of a soldier’s return from war; “Victory lap,” a tale about an inventive abduction attempt; and the title story, in which a suicidal cancer patient saves the life of a young misfit.
Stone Arabia, Dana Spiotta.
Boy who grows up wild in a band in the 1970s starts to retreat into his own world and his devoted sister is left to navigate the real world on her own.
The history of us, Leah Stewart.
Three adult siblings return to their childhood home and face a famil secret that makes them have to reexamine their relationships to each
Grace grows, Shelle Sumners.
Romantic comedy about a sensible textbook editor who falls for a responsibility-challenged songwriter and learns to let go.

British Fiction

Thursdays in the park, Hilary Boyd.
The novel about older people finding love that became a surprising e-book sensation.
The panopticon, Jenni Fagan.
Excellent first novel about a teenage girl at a home for chronic young offenders who may be all part of an experiment devised by social workers.
Oh dear Silvia, Dawn French.
Who is in Coma Suite Number 5? A matchless lover? A supreme egotist? A selfless martyr? A bad mother? A cherished sister? A selfish wife? All of these. For this is Silvia Shute who has always done exactly what she wants. Until now, when her life suddenly, shockingly stops.
Clay, Melissa Harrison.
Sensitive lyrical debut about a group of city dwellers sharing a connection with a rough nondescript park, a surprising oasis of nature in a concrete city.
Close your eyes, Ewan Morrison.
In 1981 a mother abandoned her child and drove into the night, never to return. Her disappearance was reported in the press as a fatal road accident. Her body was never found. Now Rowan has a child of her own and decides to try and unpick the past which leads to a remote commune in the Highlands.
Marry me, Dan Rhodes.
Second volume of droll, funny short stories from a true original and quirky writer.
A splendid little war, Derek Robinson.
Set after World War I when a volunteer RAF squadron in Sopwith Camels go off to fight the Russians and found themselves in a grim conflict marked by incompetence and corruption.
Hitting trees with sticks, Jane Rogers.
A gifted young textile designer leaves Britain to work for a Nigerian women’s refuge, confident in the conviction that this is her one chance to make a difference; a 16-year-old accepts a low-paying job as a window-cleaner for the opportunity it affords him to peer into other people’s lives, and carefully plan his own; and a leading scientist risks his career by taking a secret lover back to his house one night, driven by a passion to share his new theory. First rate short stories.

Fiction from the rest of the World

The blind man’s garden, Nadeem Aslam.
Set in Pakistan and Afghanistan in the months following 9/11, a story of one family’s losses and their remarkable resilience.
Requiem, Frances Itani.
Fascinating tale from Commonwealth Writer’s Prize winning author about the lives of one Japanese-Canadian family during and after the internment in the
A teaspoon of earth and sea, Dina Nayeri.
The heart-warming and uplifting novel about an Iranian girl who, separated from her mother and twin sister during the turmoil following the Iranian Revolution, invents a rich, imaginative world in which they live on. A book about identity about finding your own and creating what you think you’re missing.
Lenin’s kisses, Yan Lianke
Described as one of China’s greatest authors and strongest satirists. A tragicomic satire about a government official’s plan to make money by staging a travelling freak show.
Dora : a head case, Lidia Yuknavitch.
A contemporary coming-of-age story based on Freud’s famous case study, retold and revamped through Dora’s point of view, with dark humor and sexual play.
Ways of going home, Alejandro Zambra
Life in Chile under Pinochet’s brutal dictatorship in the 1980s, the time of the disappearances and the experience of one family.

Mystery

The prisoner of Brenda, Bateman.
When a notorious gangster is murdered, the chief syuspect is arrested until Nurse Brenda calls on Mystery Man, owner of the top mystery bookshop, to investigate.
Footprints in the sand, Mary Jane Clark.
Wedding cake decorator and maid of honor in her beloved cousin’s wedding, Piper Donovan must save the day when the impending nuptials are threatened by the disappearance of a bridesmaid, the discovery of a body on the wedding beach and the arrival of the lecherous, ex-drug dealer best man.
Gun machine, Warren Ellis.
In a condemned Manhattan tenement, Detective John Tallow discovers a cache of guns, each connected to a previously unsolved murder.
Kinsey and me : stories, Sue Grafton.
Includes stories that detail Alphabet series heroine Kinsey MIllhone’s origins, as well as true tales of the author’s past.
Blood money, James Grippando.
A nation is obsessed with a hot nightclub waitress accused of murdering her two-year-old daughter. The shocking verdict creates an immediate uproar. But when an innocent, young woman ends up dead in a riot, there may be something bigger at work.
Chain of evidence, Cora Harrison.
Latest in Burren Mysteries has Mara, Brehon of the Burren, judge and lawgiver in 16th Century Ireland.
Human remains, Elizabeth Haynes.
Suspense thriller about police analyst Annabel who discovers her neighbour has died unnoticed so she investigates and finds this isn’t an isolated case in her town.
Western approaches, Graham Hurley.
D.S. Jimmy Shuttle transfers to the West Country expecting a quiet life but hg’s soon in the midst of the murder of a long distance rower.
The disappearance of Georgiana Darcy, Regina Jeffers.
Far away at Pemberley, the Darcys happily gather to celebrate the marriage of Kitty Bennet. But a dark cloud sweeps through the festivities: Georgiana has disappeared without a trace
A killer in the wind, Andrew Klavan.
Suffering a breakdown after a traumatic case three years earlier, former NYPD vice cop Dan Champion starts over as a small-town detective and is shocked by a case involving the murder of a woman he recognizes from a hallucination whose identity a group of expert killers would keep a secret.
Back from the dead, Peter Leonard.
Bahamas 1971 and Ernest Hess, missing presumed dead, regains consciousness in a hospital.
The chessmen, Peter May.
Conclusion of the Lewis trilogy where former D.I. Fin Macleod is employed as head of security on a private estate.
The fifth assassin, Brad Meltzer.
Beecher White, hero of “The inner circle” discovers a killer in Washington D.C. who’s recreating the crimes of the world’s most famous presidential
Norwegian by night, Derek B. Miller.
Former maine Sheldon witnesses a murder and rescues the victim’s young son and rescues the victim’s young son and makes a run for it, chased by police and a murderous gang.
The mannequin house, R.N. Morris.
Historical mystery set in 1914 London where Detective Inspector Silas Quinn investigating the murder of a fashion model employed by a top Kensington department store.
Snow White must die, Nele Neuhaus
First time in English for top selling German crime writer who has a detective team of Pia Kirchhoff and Oliver von Bodenstein.
Ratlines, Stuart Neville.
Investigating the murders of three German nationals, Lieutenant Albert Ryan, Directorate of Intelligence in 1963 Ireland, finds his loyalties tested after being ordered by the Minister of Justice to hide the truth about the victims’ Nazi pasts.
Private Berlin, James Patterson & Mark T. Sullivan.
Private, the world’s most respected investigation firm, and the disappearance of an agent at Private Berlin.
Shiver, Karen Robards.
Romantic suspense about a young woman who finds a beaten bloodied man in a car trunk and then is placed in real danger.
Dead man’s land, Robert Ryan.
World War I thriller featuring a post-Sherlock Doctor Watson using his medical expertise at Flanders Fields and discovering a suspicious death.
The lawyer’s lawyer, James Sheehan.
A celebrated, but retired, trial lawyer decides to take on the case of an accused serial killer believing the man was set up, alienating everyone from his neighbors to his girlfriend.
Scorpions’ nest, M.J. Trow.
Third in historical msytery series featuring 16th C. playwright Christopher Marlowe as sleuth.
Collateral damage, Stuart Woods.
Returning to New York where he is approached by CIA assistant director and sometime lover Holly Barker, Stone Barrington is drawn into a dangerous game of murder and vengeance against an enemy who is engaged in a nefarious plot beyond Stone’s imagining.

New Zealand Fiction

The homeland of pure joy, William Dewey.
Actor and émigré in Wellington remembers his first love in America and begins a trek to find her again.
A little bit of love : and other stories, Annabel Fagan.
Short stories about a variety of themes but essentially about the lives of woman.
The chain, James Robb.
It is spring, 1982 and change is in the air. Frank has left the Hutt Valley in a quest for a job in one of the big meatworks in the Hawkes Bay. Mereana’s uncle Kingi has got her a place on the mutton slaughter floor and taken her away from life in the backblocks. Adam, who has weathered many a sacking, is trying his luck back at the employment office.

Romance

From Christmas to eternity, Caroline Anderson.
Blame it on the bikini., Natalie Anderson
The price of success, Maya Blake.
The little Amish matchmaker : a Christmas romance, Linda Byler.
Baby under the Christmas tree, Teresa Carpenter.
What his money can’t hide, Maggie Cox.
The husband list, Janet Evanovich & Dorien Kelly.
The secret that changed everything, Lucy Gordon.
A ring to secure his heir, Lynne Graham.
The cattleman’s special delivery, Barbara Hannay.
Her little Spanish secret, Laura Iding.
Mortal temptations, Allyson James.
Midnight scandals, Carolyn Jewel, Courtney Milan, Sherry Thomas.
Dream eyes, Jayne Ann Krentz.
The ruthless Caleb Wilde, Sandra Marton.
Breaking the Greek’s rules, Anne McAllister.
Woman in a sheikh’s world, Sarah Morgan.
His bride in paradise, Joanna Neil.
Secrets of the rich & famous, Charlotte Phillips.
At Dante’s service, Chantelle Shaw.
The man from her wayward past, Susan Stephens.
The English lord’s secret son, Margaret Way.
Christmas where she belongs, Meredith Webber.
Her man in Manhattan, Trish Wylie.
At his majesty’s request, Maisey Yates.
On Dublin Street, Samantha Young.

Saga & Historical

Parlor games, Maryka Biaggio.
A beautiful con artist relates her turn-of-the-century escapades that took her around the world as she was being doggedly pursued by a Pinkerton Agency detective. Excellent first novel.
Waiting for spring, Amanda Cabot.
A woman on the run and an ambitious young man with big plans for his future make an unlikely match on the Wyoming frontier. Second in the “Westward winds” series.
The last runaway, Tracy Chevalier.
Forced to leave England and struggling with illness in the wake of a family tragedy, Quaker Honor Bright is forced to rely on strangers in the harsh landscape of 1850 Ohio and is compelled to join the Underground Railroad network to help runaway slaves escape to freedom.
Mrs. Lincoln’s dressmaker, Jennifer Chiaverini.
Departure from her popular “Elm Creek Quilt” series. The story of freedwoman Wlizabeth Hobbs Keckley who becomes personal modiste (and confidante) of Abe Lincoln’s wife.
False god of Rome, Robert Fabbri.
Third of the six part Vespasian series telling the story of one of Rome’s greatest emperors.
The tutor’s daughter, Julie Klassen.
Regency romantic historical tale where a woman travels with her father to a manor house in Cornwall where strange things happen.
Back to the Pilliga, Tony Parsons.
A rollicking bush yarn from the bestselling author of Valley of the White Gold and Silver in the Sun.
The heat of the sun, David Rain.
What happened to the young son of Madame Butterfly after his father, Lt. Pinkerton, brought him from Japan to America. Well reviewed first
A study in revenge, Kieran Shields.
Historical mystery set in 1893 where Deputy Archie Lean turns to brilliant criminalist for help on the case of a murdered thief that reveals a sinister family history.
Nothing is forever, Grace Thompson.
Ruth has looked after her brothers since their parents died but her role lessens and a determined sister-in-law makes life difficult.

Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror

Home improvement : undead edition, Charlaine Harris and Toni L.P. Kelner.
A collection of paranormal do-it-yourself stories includes tales from Patricia Briggs, James Grady, Heather Graham, and Melissa Marr, and features a never-before-published Sookie Stackhouse story from Charlaine Harris.
Unnatural acts : Dan Shamble, zombie P.I., Kevin J. Anderson.
The second in Dan Shamble, zombie private eye, series.
Malice, John Gwynne.
First in fantasy series, The Faiothful & The Fallen, where a warrior is involved in a war to end all wars between two champions, the Black Sun and Bright
Tiger by the tail : a Kildar novel, John Ringo & Ryan Sear.
Former Navy SEAL Mike Harmon investigates how pirates in the Singapore Straits acquired top-secret computer chips designed to run nuclear reactors, a case that threatens the fledgling democratic government in Myanmar.
Battle : a house war novel, Michelle West.
Book five of “The house war” series.
The Hermetic millennia, John C. Wright.
Texas gunslinger and genius Menelaus Illation Montrose is awakened from cryo-suspension to harness developing forces of evolution and social engineering to counter a threat against another historical period.
Star Wars. Scoundrels, Timothy Zahn.
Han Solo, Chewbacca, and Lando Calrissian work together on a potentially lucrative heist in the hopes of paying off Jabba the Hutt’s bounty on