Back again with my five most anticipated releases coming out this month. That’s not to say that I’m not excited about all the books that are being released this month, but these are just the ones that really stand out in my mind for some reason – either because I have loved the author’s previous books or it’s a debut novel and sounds amazing. Again, sometimes I will have already read the book, in which case I will link my review and sometimes I will be reading the book in the days to come. I will note the audio publisher if I listened to the book or plan to as I am a big audiobook fan!
So here without further ado are the five books I am most excited about that will be published in February:
THE SURVIVORS by Jane Harper
Pub Date: February 2nd, Flatiron Books / Macmillan Audio
Summary:
Coming home dredges up deeply buried secrets…
Kieran Elliott’s life changed forever on the day a reckless mistake led to devastating consequences.
The
guilt that still haunts him resurfaces during a visit with his young
family to the small coastal community he once called home.
Kieran’s parents are struggling in a town where fortunes are forged by the sea. Between them all is his absent brother, Finn.
When
a body is discovered on the beach, long-held secrets threaten to
emerge. A sunken wreck, a missing girl, and questions that have never
washed away…
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GOOD NEIGHBORS by Sarah Langan
Pub Date: February 2nd, Atria Books
Summary:
Celeste Ng’s
enthralling dissection of suburbia meets Shirley Jackson’s creeping
dread in this propulsive literary noir, when a sudden tragedy exposes
the depths of deception and damage in a Long Island suburb—pitting neighbor against neighbor and putting one family in terrible danger.
Welcome
to Maple Street, a picture-perfect slice of suburban Long Island, its
residents bound by their children, their work, and their illusion of
safety in a rapidly changing world.
Arlo Wilde, a gruff
has-been rock star who’s got nothing to show for his fame but track
marks, is always two steps behind the other dads. His wife, beautiful
ex-pageant queen Gertie, feels socially ostracized and adrift. Spunky
preteen Julie curses like a sailor and her kid brother Larry is called
“Robot Boy” by the kids on the block.
Their next-door neighbor and Maple Street’s Queen Bee, Rhea Schroeder—a lonely community college professor repressing her own dark past—welcomes
Gertie and family into the fold. Then, during one spritzer-fueled
summer evening, the new best friends share too much, too soon.
As
tensions mount, a sinkhole opens in a nearby park, and Rhea’s daughter
Shelly falls inside. The search for Shelly brings a shocking accusation
against the Wildes that spins out of control. Suddenly, it is one mom’s
word against the other’s in a court of public opinion that can end only
in blood.
A riveting and ruthless portrayal of American suburbia, Good Neighbors
excavates the perils and betrayals of motherhood and friendships and
the dangerous clash between social hierarchy, childhood trauma, and
fear.
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THE NATURE OF FRAGILE THINGS by Susan Meissner
Pub Date: February 2nd, Berkley Books
Summary:
April 18, 1906: A massive earthquake rocks San Francisco just
before daybreak, igniting a devouring inferno. Lives are lost, lives are
shattered, but some rise from the ashes forever changed.
Sophie Whalen is a young Irish immigrant so desperate to get
out of a New York tenement that she answers a mail-order bride ad and
agrees to marry a man she knows nothing about. San Francisco widower
Martin Hocking proves to be as aloof as he is mesmerizingly handsome.
Sophie quickly develops deep affection for Kat, Martin’s silent
five-year-old daughter, but Martin’s odd behavior leaves her with the
uneasy feeling that something about her newfound situation isn’t right.
Then
one early-spring evening, a stranger at the door sets in motion a
transforming chain of events. Sophie discovers hidden ties to two other
women. The first, pretty and pregnant, is standing on her doorstep. The
second is hundreds of miles away in the American Southwest, grieving the
loss of everything she once loved.
The fates of these three
women intertwine on the eve of the devastating earthquake, thrusting
them onto a perilous journey that will test their resiliency and resolve
and, ultimately, their belief that love can overcome fear.
From the acclaimed author of The Last Year of the War and As Bright as Heaven comes a gripping novel about the bonds of friendship and mother love, and the power of female solidarity.
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MAGPIE LANE by Lucy Atklins
Pub Date: February 9th, Mobius Books
Summary:
When the eight-year-old
daughter of an Oxford College Master vanishes in the middle of the
night, police turn to the Scottish nanny, Dee, for answers. As Dee looks
back over her time in the Master’s Lodging – an eerie and ancient house
– a picture of a high achieving but dysfunctional family emerges: Nick,
the fiercely intelligent and powerful father; his beautiful Danish wife
Mariah, pregnant with their child; and the lost little girl, Felicity,
almost mute, seeing ghosts, grieving her dead mother.
But is Dee
telling the whole story? Is her growing friendship with the eccentric
house historian, Linklater, any cause for concern? And most of all, why
was Felicity silent?
Roaming Oxford’s secret passages and hidden graveyards, Magpie Lane explores the true meaning of family – and what it is to be denied one.
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DO NO HARM by Christina McDonald
Pub Date: February 16th, Gallery Books
Summary:
Emma loves her life.
She’s the mother of a precocious kindergartener, married to her
soulmate—a loyal and loving police detective—and has a rewarding career
as a doctor at the local hospital.
But everything comes crashing down when her son, Josh, is diagnosed with a rare form of cancer.
Determined
to save him, Emma makes the risky decision to sell opioids to fund the
life-saving treatment he needs. But when somebody ends up dead, a lethal
game of cat and mouse ensues, her own husband leading the chase. With
her son’s life hanging in the balance, Emma is dragged into the dark
world of drugs, lies, and murder. Will the truth catch up to her before
she can save Josh?
Do any of these sound good? Let me know!
