Having Read That with Brian Vakulskas

Author: Brian Freeman

Book: Robert Ludlum’s THE BOURNE SHADOW: A Jason Bourne Novel

Publishing: G.P. Putnam’s Sons (July 16, 2024)

Synopsis (from the Publisher):

It’s been over a decade since Nash Rollins recruited a brilliant, talented, but disaffected young man named David Webb to join Treadstone. Webb became the agent known as Cain—and later took on the identity of Jason Bourne.

That violent winter—which included Cain’s first mission for Treadstone—was also a story of betrayal in ways that David never knew. So after the injury that erased Bourne’s whole life, Nash lied about the circumstances of David’s recruitment to Treadstone. He was afraid that learning the truth might drive Bourne out of the agency forever.

But now, when Bourne meets a woman who recognizes him as David Webb, the secrets of those days begin to come out—and Bourne is forced to confront the dangerous ghosts of a past he doesn’t even remember.

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Author: K.A. Cobell

Book: LOOKING FOR SMOKE

Publishing: Heartdrum (June 4, 2024)

Synopsis (from the Publisher):

In her powerful debut novel, Looking for Smoke, author K. A. Cobell (Blackfeet) weaves loss, betrayal, and complex characters into a thriller that will illuminate, surprise, and engage readers until the final word. A must-pick for readers who enjoy books by Angeline Boulley and Karen McManus!

When local girl Loren includes Mara in a traditional Blackfeet Giveaway to honor Loren’s missing sister, Mara thinks she’ll finally make some friends on the Blackfeet reservation.

Instead, a girl from the Giveaway, Samantha White Tail, is found murdered.

Because the four members of the Giveaway group were the last to see Samantha alive, each becomes a person of interest in the investigation. And all of them—Mara, Loren, Brody, and Eli—have a complicated history with Samantha.

Despite deep mistrust, the four must now take matters into their own hands and clear their names. Even though one of them may be the murderer.

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Author: Ruth Bonapace

Book: THE BULGARIAN TRAINING MANUAL

Publishing: CLASH Books (June 4, 2024)

Synopsis (from the Publisher):

The Bulgarian Training Manual is a comic novel that tells the story of Tina in her quest to find her true parents and jeans that fit.

With the help of a mysterious book with magical powers, Tina makes her way from her waterlogged apartment in Hoboken, New Jersey, to an Oz-like journey to Bulgaria and back. Our heroine is the catalyst for a final contest that is part body-builder pose-off and part poetry slam.

The novel is a sly and comic look at self-improvement, our self-doubts and fervent dreams, and our endless internal yammering. Those who follow The Bulgarian Training Manual add more than muscle. They become poets.

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Author: Mark Greaney

Book: SENTINEL

Publishing: Berkley (June 25, 2024)

Synopsis (from the Publisher):

Josh Duffy and his wife Nikki are both working for the State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service providing protection for diplomats in the field. They’ve been sent to Ghana with a team of US embassy personnel who are there to highlight American commitment to the construction of a new dam.

Since Ghana is a stable democracy, the Duffy children have come along for a short vacation. But stability proves to be fleeting when a Chinese plan to embarrass the US means the destruction of the dam. Now Josh and his protectees are on the run caught between a Chinese hit squad and a rebel army.

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Author: Salah Bachir

Book: FIRST TO LEAVE THE PARTY: My Life with Ordinary People who Happen to be Famous

Publishing: Signal (October 17, 2023)

Click HERE to buy the book!

Synopsis (from the Publisher):

A marvelous and compulsively readable collection of stories from the life of Salah Bachir — philanthropist, art collector, movie industry insider — who, through his sheer joy of life, art, giving back, and human interaction, has endeared him to some of the most famous and creative people in recent times.

Salah Bachir’s encounters with stars who have passed through his beloved Toronto over the years opens on a backyard garden barbecue with Marlon Brando, and bread continues to be broken with icons as fascinating and seemingly disparate as Muhammad Ali and Liberace, Margaret Atwood and Cesar Chavez, Andy Warhol and Princess Margaret, to name just a few. But the true literary coup is that the biggest, brightest star we encounter is the author himself.

Salah is the patron saint for all of us who are full of curiosity, hungry for celebration, horny for fun, and who won’t stop until every need is fulfilled. His appetite and passion for life is voracious. His ability to transform those passions into making life better for others is even more impressive.

Salah Bachir, who immigrated to Canada from Lebanon in the 1960s, has been a gay activist who has worked in the film world for over four decades. While this has given him undeniable front-row access to Hollywood’s biggest stars, it is Salah’s personal charm and kindness, his philanthropy, his overall style (think hats, scarves, brooches, pearls, diamonds) and deep involvement in the art world that has made him a friend, companion, confidante, and/or lover to so many — including Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, Joan Rivers, Mary Tyler Moore, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Andy Warhol, Keith Haring, Edward Albee, Orson Welles, Aretha Franklin, Norman Jewison, and Elizabeth Taylor — although it’s true that Katharine Hepburn once turned him down, very nicely.

Collected here in this wonderful book are personal stories of them all — some short, some long, some surprising, others juicy, and all fascinating. Through them we get to know Salah, a larger-than-life character that embodies the many worlds he shapes — the kind of person it would be hard to make up if he didn’t already exist.

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Author: Joanna Ho (Illustrated by Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya)

Book: WE WHO PRODUCE PEARLS: An Anthem for Asian America

Publishing: Orchard Books (April 16, 2024)

Synopsis (from the Publisher):

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Author: Lexi Blake

Book: MY ROYAL SHOWMANCE: A Park Avenue Promise Novel

Publishing: Blue Box Press (June 4, 2024)

Click HERE to buy the book!

Synopsis (from the Publisher):

Three young women make a pact in high school—

Anika Fox knows exactly where she wants to be, and it’s not on the set of a reality TV dating show. She’s working her way up at the production company she works for and she’s close to achieving some of her dreams. The big boss just wants one thing from her. She’s got a potential problem with the director of The King Takes a Bride and she wants Anika to pose as a production assistant and report back.

As the king of a tiny European country, Luca St. Marten knows the world views him as one of the pampered royalty of the world. It couldn’t be further from the truth. His country is hurting and he’s right there on the front lines with his citizens. When he’s asked to do a dating show, his counselors point out that it could bring tourism back to Ralavia. It goes against his every desire, but he agrees.

When one of the contestants drops out at the last minute, Anika finds herself replacing the potential princess. She’s sure she’ll be asked to leave the first night, but Luca keeps picking her again and again. Suddenly she finds herself in the middle of a made-for-TV fantasy, and she’s unsure what’s real and what’s simply reality TV.

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Author: Robin Peguero

Book: ONE IN THE CHAMBER: A Novel

Publishing: Grand Central Publishing (March 26, 2024)

Click HERE to buy the book!

Synopsis (from the Publisher):

Cameron Leann is new to Washington, D.C. An Iowa farm boy without a penny to his name, Cam has joined a group of affluent junior staffers working for a powerful cohort of U.S. Senators known as The Gang of Six. Liz Frost, the group’s charismatic leader, teases and strings Cam along as he grows increasingly infatuated with her. Heir to a political dynasty, Randy Lancaster pushes Cam to his limits with his penchant for booze, drugs, and meaningless flings. Charlie James, Liz’s linebacker boyfriend, keeps Cam at a distance, eyeing the newcomer with suspicion.

All of them have one thing in common. They hate their bosses.

As the Gang of Six takes up the rushed nomination of the first Black chief justice to the Supreme Court, Cam and his friends are plotting against them. But in the game of politics, one’s motivations are never as they seem—especially true for Cam, the enigmatic figure at the center of it all.

When a bombshell revelation threatens to sink the President’s Supreme Court pick, the Gang of Six fractures, pitting senator against senator in a confirmation battle for the ages. Alliances shift with the wind. Everyone is lying to everyone.  And on Election Night, one senator will end up dead.

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Author: James Comey

Book: WESTPORT: A Crime Novel

Publishing: Mysterious Press (May 21, 2024)

Click HERE to buy the book!

Synopsis (from the Publisher):

Former FBI director James Comey takes readers into the world of high finance and corporate espionage in this riveting thriller.

A red canoe sits abandoned on Seymour Rock, right where the Saugatuck River hits the Long Island Sound. The elegantly dressed corpse of a woman lies inside….

It’s been two years since Nora Carleton left the job she loved at the US Attorney’s Office to become lead counsel at Saugatuck Associates, the world’s largest hedge fund. The career change also meant a change of scenery, relocating her to Westport, Connecticut, fifty miles north of New York City. But it was worth it to get her daughter, Sophie, away from the city. Plus, she likes the people she works with. Especially Helen, who recruited Nora because of her skills as an investigator.

Then Nora’s new life falls apart when a coworker is murdered and she becomes the lead suspect. Nora calls in her old colleagues from the US Attorney’s Office, Mafia investigator Benny Dugan and attorney Carmen Garcia. To clear Nora’s name, Benny and Carmen hunt for the true killer’s motive, but it seems nearly everyone at Saugatuck has secrets worth killing for. As Benny sets out to interrogate her colleagues, Nora examines her history with the company to determine who set her up to take the fall.

A suspenseful and intriguing tale of high finance and murder, Westport features the characters first introduced in James Comey’s debut novel Central Park West but can also be read on its own. It further establishes Comey as “a bold new talent in the mystery genre” (Harlan Coben).

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Author: Heather Gudenkauf

Book: EVERYONE IS WATCHING: A Novel

Publishing: Park Row (March 26, 2024)

Click HERE to buy the book!

Synopsis (from the Publisher):

A mysterious high-stakes game proves life-threatening in this twisty thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of The Overnight Guest

The Best Friend. The Confidant. The Senator. The Boyfriend. The Executive.

Five contestants have been chosen to compete for ten million dollars on the game show One Lucky Winner. The catch? None of them knows what (or who) to expect, and it will be live streamed all over the world. Completely secluded in an estate in Northern California, with strict instructions not to leave the property and zero contact with the outside world, the competitors start to feel a little too isolated.

When long-kept secrets begin to rise to the surface, the contestants realize this is no longer just a reality show—someone is out for blood. And the game can’t end until the world knows who the contestants really are…

And don’t miss these other enthralling thrillers by Heather Gudenkauf:

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