New Releases - July 2022

The 6:20 Man by David Baldacci
Every day Travis Devine puts on a suit, grabs his briefcase, and boards the 6:20 train to Manhattan, where he works as an entry-level analyst. In the mornings, he gazes out the train window at the lavish homes, dreaming about joining their ranks. In the evenings, he listens to the fiscal news on his phone, already preparing for the next day in finance. Then one morning Devine's routine is shattered by an email: She is dead.
Sara Ewes, Devine's coworker and former girlfriend, has been found hanging in a storage room of his office building, prompting the NYPD to come calling on him. Before the day is out, Devine receives another visit that threatens to dredge up secrets from his past unless he participates in an investigation into his firm. This will take him from the lives he once saw only through a train window, to the country's economic halls of power . . . where something lurks. And apart from this conspiracy, there's a killer out there with their own agenda, and Devine is the bull's eye.

Switchboard Soldiers by Jennifer Chiaverini
In 1917, General John Pershing arrived in France to establish American forces. He was unable to communicate with troops in the field. Pershing needed operators who could connect multiple calls, speak French and English, remain steady under fire, and be discreet with classified information.
Nearly all well-trained American telephone operators were women--but women were not permitted to enlist. Nevertheless, the U.S. Army Signal Corps promptly began recruiting them.
More than 7,600 women responded, including Grace Banker of New Jersey, Marie Miossec, a Frenchwoman; and Valerie DeSmedt, determined to strike a blow for her native Belgium.
The switchboard soldiers could do in ten seconds what the male soldiers they had replaced needed one minute.
The risk of death was real—from bombs to the Spanish Flu.
The women of the U.S. Army Signal Corps served with honor and played an essential role in achieving the Allied victory.

Grace Under Fire by Julie Garwood
Isabel Grace MacKenna had things to do today. Killing someone wasn't one of them. It was supposed to just be a quick visit to the Buchanans' anniversary party. But she ends up with a wounded man stumbling into her and then his shooter coming after them both. When she fires back in self-defense, she doesn't expect him to drop dead.
The police are torn between believing that she's a bystander or more involved, but thanks to lawyer Michael Buchanan dealing with the police, Isabel is free to go. Isabel knows that she should be more grateful for Michael's help, but she’s loathed him for years and gratitude is the last thing she feels. Yet, Michael is sticking to her despite their bickering and attraction.
But Michael isn't the only thing Isabel can't shake. Mysterious threats have escalated, and before they can deal with their growing feelings for each other, they must first survive.

Listen to Me by Tess Gerritsen
Detective Jane Rizzoli and medical examiner Maura Isles are plagued by a senseless murder. Sofia Suarez was universally liked but now lies dead in her home. When Jane finally makes a connection between Sofia and the victim of a hit-and-run, the case only grows blurrier.
Meanwhile, Angela Rizzoli hasn't had a decent night's sleep since her daughter became a detective. Nothing in Angela's neighborhood gets by her--not the gossip about a runaway teen and not the neighbors who have just moved in. Angela's sure there's no such thing as coincidence. If only Jane would listen--instead she writes off Angela's concerns as imagination. But Angela's convinced there's a real wolf in her vicinity, and her cries are falling on deaf ears.
With so much happening in the Sofia case, Jane and Maura already struggle to see the forest for the trees, but will they lose sight of something sinister happening much closer to home?

The Big Dark Sky by Dean Koontz
As a girl, Joanna Chase thrived on Rustling Willows Ranch in Montana until tragedy upended her life. Now thirty-four and living in Santa Fe with memories of the past, she begins to receive pleas--by phone, through her TV, in her dreams: “I am in a dark place, Jojo. Please come and help me.” Joanna is compelled to return to Montana, and to a companion, she had forgotten.
She isn't the only one drawn to the farmstead. People from all walks of life have converged at the ranch. They are haunted, on the run, obsessed, and seeking answers to the same danger Joanna came to confront. All the while, on the outskirts of Rustling Willows, a madman lurks with a vision to save the future.
Through a twist of circumstances, strangers now find themselves under Montana's big dark sky. Their lives entwined, they face an encroaching horror.

The Best is Yet to Come by Debbie Macomber
A new beginning is exactly what Hope Godwin needs. There are distractions, like her cottage, landlords, and drama among her students at the high school.
Hope still feels something is missing. That is until her landlords convince her to volunteer at the animal shelter. There she meets Shadow, a rescue dog that everyone has given up on.
Like Shadow, volunteer Cade Lincoln Jr. is suffering from injuries most can't see. Cade identifies with Shadow, assuming they are both beyond help. Hope senses that they each need someone to believe in them. She gains Shadow's trust and notices Cade begins to open up as well.
But Hope's happiness is put to the test when Cade's past resurfaces, and Hope becomes embroiled in the situation at school. Love and compassion are supposed to heal all wounds, but are they enough to help Hope and Cade?

Shattered by James Patterson
NYPD investigator Michael Bennett and top FBI specialist Emily Parker have a history.
Working case after case, each can predict the other's next move. So when she fails to show up at headquarters, Bennett risks venturing far outside his jurisdiction. The investigation he undertakes is the most brilliant detective work of his career...and the most intensely personal.
A portrait begins to emerge of a woman as adept at keeping secrets as forging connections. A woman whose enemies had both the means and the motives to silence the real Emily Parker--and her protectors.

Beyond the Desert Sand by Tracie Peterson
Accustomed to life with her aunt, the last thing Isabella Garcia wants is to celebrate Christmas in her parents' small desert town. Adding insult to injury, she must bear the company of a businessman her father has sent to escort her, who clearly finds her spoiled. But she is surprised to see how much the town has grown and how fragile her father's health has become. Then a surprise visitor shows up with news that entirely upends the life she's been leading. Faced with all these changes, Isabella struggles to sort through her future. And trouble is brewing, there are those who hope she stays just as she is, even if it costs her everything.

Cold, Cold Bones by Kathy Reichs
Winter has come and, with it, a drop in crime. Tempe Brennan is content to dote on her daughter Katy. They find a box on the back porch and inside: a human eyeball.
GPS coordinates etched into the eyeball lead to another discovery. Soon after, Tempe examines another corpse, and her anxiety deepens.
There seems to be no pattern to the killings, except that each mimics a homicide that a younger Tempe had been called in to analyze.
Helping Tempe search for answers is detective Erskine "Skinny" Slidell, retired but still volunteering. Also pulled into the mystery: Andrew Ryan, now working as a private detective.
Could this be the prelude to a twist that is even more shocking? Tempe is at a loss to establish the motive for what is going on...and then her daughter disappears.

Portrait of an Unknown Woman by Daniel Silva
Spy and art restorer Gabriel Allon has settled in Venice. Gabriel spends his days wandering the streets and canals, parting with the demons of his past.
But when the art dealer Julian Isherwood asks Gabriel to investigate the circumstances surrounding the rediscovery and sale of a centuries-old painting, he is drawn into a game where nothing is as it seems.
Gabriel soon discovers that the work in question, a portrait of an unidentified woman, is certainly a fake. To find the mysterious figure who painted it--and uncover fraud at the pinnacle of the art world--Gabriel conceives one of the most elaborate deceptions of his career. If it is to succeed, he must become the image of the man he seeks: the greatest art forger the world has ever known.

The It Girl by Ruth Ware
April Clarke-Cliveden was the first person Hannah Jones met at Oxford.
The ultimate It girl, she quickly pulled Hannah into her orbit. Together, they developed a group of friends--Will, Hugh, Ryan, and Emily. By the end of the year, April was dead.
Now, a decade later, Hannah and Will are expecting a child, and the man convicted of killing April, John Neville, has died in prison. Relieved to finally put the past behind her, Hannah's world is rocked when a journalist comes knocking and presents new evidence that Neville was innocent. As Hannah delves deeper into April's death, she realizes that the friends she thought she knew all have something to hide...including a murder.

Sugar and Salt by Susan Wiggs
Jerome Sugar learned the art of baking in his grandma's bakery in San Francisco.
When his shared commercial kitchen loses a tenant, a newcomer moves in: Margot Salton, a barbecue master from Texas.
Margot needs a fresh start. Her dream is to open a restaurant somewhere far from Texas. The shared kitchen with Jerome's bakery is the perfect setup: a state-of-the-art kitchen and a neighborhood with tourists and locals. Margot instantly takes to Jerome's mother and the older woman is a good mentor. Margot is drawn to Jerome. Despite their backgrounds, the attraction is powerful--even though Jerome worries that Margot will simply move on. But just as she starts to relax into a happy new future, Margot's past