New Releases - May 2021

Gambing Man, by David Baldacci. (Coming April, 2021)
The 1950s are on the horizon, and Archer is in dire need of a fresh start after a nearly fatal detour in Poca City. He heads to California, and stops at a P.I. office where he is hoping to apprentice with a legendary private eye and former FBI agent named Willie Dash. He lands the job and finds himself in the thick of a blackmail case involving a wealthy well-connected politician running for mayor that soon spins into something even more sinister. As bodies begin falling, Archer and Dash must infiltrate the world of brothels, gambling dens, drug operations, and long-hidden secrets, descending into the rotten bones of a corrupt town that is selling itself as the promised land--but might actually be the road to perdition, and Archer's final resting place.

The Newcomer, by Mary Kay Andrews
After she discovers her sister Tanya dead on the floor of her fashionable New York City townhouse, Letty Carnahan is certain she knows who did it: Tanya's ex; sleazy real estate entrepreneur Evan Wingfield. Even in the grip of grief and panic Letty heeds her late sister's warnings: "If anything bad happens to me--it's Evan. Promise me you'll take Maya and run. Promise me." So Letty grabs her sister's Mercedes and hits the road . . .
They settle into a former storage room at the Murmuring Surf Motel in Florida. As Letty tries to heal Maya's heartache and unravel the key to her sister's shady past, she dodges the attention of the owner's dangerously attractive son Joe, who just happens to be a local police detective. Can Letty find romance as well as a room at the inn--or will Joe betray her secrets and put her behind bars? With danger closing in, it's a race to find the truth and right the wrongs of the past.

Aftermath, by Terri Blackstock
When police stop Dustin with a warrant to search his trunk, he knows it's just a mistake. He's former military and owns a security firm. But he's horrified when they find explosives, and he can't fathom how they got there.

Criminal attorney Jamie Powell was Dustin's best friend growing up. They haven't spoken since he left for basic training, but she's the first one he thinks of when he's arrested. Jamie knows she's putting her career on the line by defending an accused terrorist, but she'd never abandon him. Someone is framing Dustin to take the fall for shocking acts of violence . . . but why?

Final Twist, by Jeffery Deaver
Colter Shaw is in San Francisco, where he has taken on the mission his father began years ago: finding a missing courier bag containing evidence that will bring down a corporate espionage firm responsible for hundreds, perhaps thousands, of deaths.
Following clues his father left behind, Shaw plays cat and mouse with the company's sadistic enforcers. Suddenly, the job takes on a frightening urgency: Only by finding the courier bag can he expose the company and stop the murder of an entire family--slated to die in forty-eight hours.

The Stepsisters, by Susan Mallery
Once upon a time, when her dad married Sage's mom, Daisy was thrilled to get a bright and shiny new sister. But Sage was beautiful and popular, everything Daisy was not, and she made sure Daisy knew it. Sage used her popularity as a weapon, putting Daisy down to elevate herself.
Eighteen years, two kids and one troubled marriage later, Daisy never expects--or wants--to see Sage again. But when the little sister they have in common needs them both, they put aside their differences to care for Cassidy. As long-buried truths are revealed, no one is more surprised than they when friendship blossoms.
Their fragile truce is threatened by one careless act that could have devastating consequences. They could turn their backs on each other again...or they could learn to forgive once and for all and finally become true sisters of the heart.

21st Birthday, by James Patterson
When young wife and mother Tara Burke goes missing with her baby girl, all eyes are on her husband, Lucas. He paints her not as a missing person but a wayward wife--until a gruesome piece of evidence turns the investigation criminal. 
While Chronicle reporter Cindy Thomas pursues the story and M.E. Claire Washburn harbors theories that run counter to the SFPD's, ADA Yuki Castellano sizes Lucas up as a textbook domestic offender . . . who suddenly puts forward an unexpected suspect. If what Lucas tells law enforcement has even a grain of truth, there isn't a woman in the state of California who's safe from the reach of an unspeakable threat.

The Lady has a Past, by Amanda Quick
Investigative apprentice Lyra Brazier, the newest resident of Burning Cove, is unsettled when her boss suddenly goes on a health retreat at an exclusive spa and disappears without another word. Lyra knows something has happened to Raina Kirk, and she is the only one who can track her down. The health spa is known for its luxurious offerings and prestigious clientele, and the wealthy, socialite background Lyra wanted to leave behind is perfect for this undercover job. The agency brings in a partner and bodyguard for her - Simon Cage, a mild-mannered book dealer with a quiet, academic air. The unlikely duo falls down a rabbit hole of twisted rumors and missing socialites, discovering that the health spa is a façade for something far darker than they imagined. With a murderer in their midst, Raina isn't the only one in grave danger--Lyra is next.

Legacy, by Nora Roberts
Adrian Rizzo was seven when she met her father for the first time. That was the day he nearly killed her--before her mother, Lina, stepped in.
Soon after, Adrian was dropped off at her grandparents' house in Maryland, where she spent a long summer drinking lemonade, playing with dogs, making a new best friend. Lina, meanwhile, traveled the country promoting her fitness brand and turning it into a billion-dollar business. There was no point in dwelling on the past.
A decade later, Adrian has created her own line of yoga and workout videos, following in Lina's footsteps but intent on maintaining creative control. But while Lina dismisses the death threats that Adrian starts getting as a routine part of her daughter's growing celebrity, Adrian can't help but find the vicious rhymes unsettling. Year after year, they keep arriving--the postmarks changing, but the menacing tone the same. Sometimes it even seems like the terrifying messages are indeed routine, like nothing will come of them. Until the murders start, and the escalation begins...